- Collingwood kept their title defence alive
- But fans were concerned for the well-being of one seagull.
- The bird seemed to fall dead on the grass.
Collingwood kept its troubled defence of AFL premiership alive with a six-point win over Richmond on Sunday.
But all football fans could talk about was the welfare of a lame seagull at the MCG.
Towards the end of the second quarter in Melbourne, as Richmond restarted play from the goal area, a bird appeared to fall from the sky and land with a thud on the turf.
Images of the incident were uploaded to social media, where the user zoomed in on the bird that appeared lifeless in worrying scenes.
But fans couldn’t help but see the funny side of the bizarre incident.
“He probably froze to death,” one fan joked on X.
“The worst thing is when the referee tells the seagull to stop,” joked another fan.
A third fan attempted satire: “If Dan Andrews had been there, there would have been a state funeral and a bay named after the seagull.”
A seagull appeared to drop dead during a football match on Sunday afternoon
Nick Daicos was outstanding in helping the Magpies snap a four-match losing streak with a vital 14.9 (93) to 9.13 (67) victory at the MCG on Sunday.
The Brownlow Medal hopeful racked up a career-high 42 disposals, 18 contested possessions, 12 score involvements and 12 clearances as the best player on the ground.
Collingwood’s win lifted their record to 9-8-2 and kept them within striking distance of the top eight ahead of a tough home run, with games against Carlton, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne to come.
Daicos led a strong midfield alongside Scott Pendlebury (22 disposals), Josh Daicos (32), John Noble (21) and Jack Bytel (25).
Pendlebury was tactically substituted in the third quarter ahead of his 400th AFL game against the Blues next week, being replaced by Lachie Sullivan.
Dan McStay scored three goals in his second game back from injury, while Lachie Schultz, Will Hoskin-Elliott and Bobby Hill (two each) also got multiple goals.
Hill and Jamie Elliott wowed the 58,342 fans in attendance with their signature high holds.
Darcy Cameron and Mason Cox convincingly won their duel with an inexperienced Richmond ruck division led by Samson Ryan.
Collingwood defeated Richmond but fans were concerned for the welfare of the Birds
The last-place Tigers lost Tim Taranto to a back injury in the third period and were defeated for the sixth straight time.
Jayden Short (25 disposals), Nick Vlastuin (23), Daniel Rioli (25) and Nathan Broad (26) never stopped trying.
Both teams were short on star power after close friends Jordan De Goey (groin) and Dustin Martin (back) were ruled out in the days leading up to the clash.
Daicos entered the scene with a career-high 18 disposals, 10 contested possessions, seven score involvements and five clearances in a dominant opening period.
Collingwood’s superior ball movement and efficiency in attack led to a 6.2 to 2.2 lead at quarter time.
That grew marginally during the second quarter before the Magpies took full control after the main break, scoring the first three goals of the third period.
Richmond used Liam Baker, briefly, and young striker Seth Campbell at Daicos, putting the prolific midfielder under some pressure.
But the Pies playmaker still had an influence as Collingwood finished off a strong performance.