Geelong took top spot from Collingwood and reaffirmed their status as the AFL's powerhouse with a 36-point win over the Magpies.

The Cats looked in big trouble during the third term of Friday night's MCG blockbuster, but then went up a gear and kicked the last eight goals of the match to easily win, 12.14 (86) to 6.14 (50).

The much-hyped game between first and second attracted a crowd of 88,115, a record between these two sides.

Cameron Mooney kicked three goals in his 200th game and Mathew Stokes also put through three, while Jimmy Bartel and Matthew Scarlett were outstanding for the classy Cats.

Collingwood could only manage 2.12 after half-time, including five behinds at the start of the final term when they had locked the ball in attack and were pressing.

The loss ended Collingwood's best start to a season since 1981 and will give the improved Magpies much to ponder.

Including last year's NAB Cup final, they have now lost six of their seven games against Geelong, who remain the competition benchmark.

Collingwood small forward Dayne Beams dramatically swung the game back in his side's favour with two late goals in the second term, including one on the siren.

He also kicked the first goal of the second half to give them the lead.

The Magpies extended their break to 11 points midway through the quarter and should have had Geelong under more pressure.

After kicking five unanswered goals either side of the main break, they could only manage 2.6 for the third term.

That kept the door ajar for the Geelong mean machine and inevitably, they pounced.

The Cats kicked the last five goals of the third quarter to lead by 21 points at the last change, totally dominating play.

Geelong had led by 16 points late in the second term of a low-scoring duel and looked on the verge of breaking it open.

But Josh Hunt's desperate work in defence came to nothing, with the ricocheting ball ending in Beams' hands for an opportunistic goal.

Geelong then scored a behind and with only seconds left in the half, Collingwood were able to rush the ball up the ground.

Beams had a long shot at goal as the siren sounded and it bounced through the middle.

He had also kicked the opening goal of the second term to give them a five-point lead.

The two sides only managed one goal apiece in a frantic opening quarter, where the defensive pressure around the ground was intense.

This was the second Friday night in a row where Collingwood featured in a game between first and second - last week, they beat Fremantle in Perth to go a game clear at the top of the ladder.

Thompson said the Cats persisted with a simple forward structure that tried to deny Collingwood a spare player back.

"We had some ugly entries (in the third term) that scored goals ...they pretty-much dominated the first half of that third quarter, their margin probably wasn't big enough," he said.

"We got a couple of goals and got a bit of momentum.

"It was a good contest, I like competing in games like that.

"They're good to be involved in and they're certainly good to win"

Geelong had spoken early in the week about their players being sore after last week's game on the hard 'Gabba soreness.

Thompson said his biggest worry was that it was Geelong's fourth game in 20 days and he noted the Cats looked tired in the final quarter.

"I wasn't sure coming to the ground whether our legs would stand up, I think we spent everything," he said

Thompson paid tribute to ruckmen Mark Blake and Tom Hawkins, who impressed for the Cats.

Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse said the Magpies were "bitterly disappointed" post-match and bemoaned their scoring inaccuracy.

"We didn't have control of the match (in the third quarter), but we certainly had control of the ball and control of the period of play," he said.

"You've just got to put the score on the board "

But Malthouse saw some good signs from his team out of the hard-fought game.

"There were so many things we got right," he said.

"By and large, I thought Geelong had to play pretty well to beat us and that gives us now a chance to evaluate that game."

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