Kuwarna has suffered a four-point defeat at the hands of Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday. 

It came down to a composed set shot goal deep in red time from Jordan De Goey after Nick Daicos found the Magpies star on the lead at the city end to help secure the 12.6 (78) to 11.8 (74) win. 

Although, Izak Rankine nearly won the game off his own boot with a stunning NAB Goal of the Year contender. 

In a fortnight where the game stops to pay tribute to the contribution made by First Nations people, Kuwarna's Indigenous star put Kuwarna back in front late with a brilliant dribble kick from the boundary, then burst down the wing in the dying seconds to put his side back inside 50 only to be called for running too far. 

Rankine couldn't have done much more, finishing with a career-high 30 disposals, seven clearances, 692m gained, before limping off after the final siren with a suspected hamstring injury. 

Nick Daicos was enormous from the first bounce, reaching quarter-time with 15 disposals and six clearances to his name, before finishing with 40 disposals, 22 contested possessions, a career-high 14 clearances and six tackles in another masterclass.

Kuwarna has recovered from 0-4 to still be in contention, but it should be returning to South Australia with a major scalp after being the better side for much of the game, but wasting a plus-nine inside-50 count. 

At the start of game No.393, Scott Pendlebury showed his class early, linking up with De Goey in the corridor to bank the first goal of the game.

But despite dominating proceedings, Kuwarna steadied on the back of the influence of Jake Soligo.

Taylor Walker slotted the Kuwarna's first, before Brayden Cook made Collingwood pay for repeat turnovers. Then Pendlebury, the 36-year-old evergreen champion, read the play perfectly off the hand of Mason Cox to slot his second in time-on. 

Joe Richards and Bobby Hill kept the foot on the throat by kicking the first two goals in the first two minutes of the second quarter.

Lachie Schultz and Reef McInnes added two more, before Elliott Himmelberg ended a run of six consecutive Collingwood goals.

Fogarty and Rachele kicked two more majors in red time to reduce the margin to under two goals before the main break.

After a quiet start, Jordan Dawson was crucial in the second quarter, helping swing the momentum back. 

Will Hoskin-Elliott didn't emerge after half-time due to a hamstring injury, rearranging a makeshift forward line that was already without Brody Mihocek, Jamie Elliott and Beau McCreery for a second consecutive week, after losing Jeremy Howe early last Sunday.

McInnes exited 15 minutes later due to concussion.

Amid an arm wrestle, where Kuwarna kept responding and wouldn't allow the reigning premiers to put a buffer in the game, Noble streamed through the centre and launched a bomb from beyond the arc for a moment to savour in his milestone game. 

But Kuwarna responded again. With their season on the line, Rachele kicked the first goal of the last quarter, before Mitch Hinge ran around the back of Walker and launched a kick from 55m out that went over the back fence and reduced the margin to one straight kick. 

Kuwarna almost got there in the end, but they didn't. The masters of the tight finish did it again.

COLLINGWOOD     4.2     8.2     11.4    12.6 (78)
KUWARNA              3.1     6.3     8.5     11.8 (74)

GOALS
Collingwood: Pendlebury 2, McInnes 2, De Goey 2, Schultz, Richards, Noble, Hill, Hoskin-Elliott, Crisp, 
Kuwarna: Rachele 2, Fogarty 2, Walker, Sholl, Murphy, Himmelberg, Cook, Rankine, Himmelberg

INJURIES
Collingwood: Hoskin-Elliott (hamstring), McInnes (concussion)
Kuwarna: Rankine (hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Harvey Harrison (replaced Will Hoskin-Elliott in the second quarter)
Kuwarna: Ned McHenry (replaced Lachlan Sholl in the third quarter)

Crowd: 63,935 at the MCG