Watching Collingwood's last battle with Brisbane brings only excitement for coach Craig McRae, despite the Magpies suffering their first loss to the Lions at the MCG in more than 10 years.

The teams return to the famous ground on Saturday night for their preliminary final with McRae saying he'd taken time this week to view the round-21 match again.

Young Brisbane key forward Logan Morris booted a career-high six goals while Lachie Neale, Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley dominated through the midfield.

McRae says what he took out of the match is how much better shape the Magpies are in since that 27-point defeat.

He noted that match was premiership midfielder Jordan de Goey's first back since round eight after he was sidelined by Achilles inflammation and a concussion following a traini

See Full Page