In the end it finished with a Collingwood victory in heavy rain, rain that might have taken some momentum away from the charging Brisbane Lions. It was probably a fair result – the Pies held a 53-point lead late in the third term – but they had to dig deep to secure the win, their players visibly flagging as the game wore on.

The Lions had looked shot. They'd lost their captain Tom Rockliff in a disastrous beginning to the third term, packed off to hospital after getting a knee in the ribs from a new Magpie, former Cat Travis Varcoe. Only three goals in red time in the third quarter had given them a ghost of a chance.

But Daniel Rich's scrambled goal from the first clearance of the last change forced flagging Collingwood into lock-down mode. They were able to hold the Lions out for 10 minutes, but Josh Green's second – and the sight of Steele Sidebottom on the bench with ice on his thumb – sent a shiver through the Pies' camp.

Then Allen Christensen found another from a free kick, reducing the margin to 16 points with ample time left for a team on the charge. Dayne Beams, who'd found plenty of the ball but barely got his foot to it, picked out Green for his third. That could have been a cue for panic, but older, wiser heads prevailed.

It was a good game, played in front of the biggest crowd at the Gabba in years, but one that answered few longer-term questions hanging over both clubs. The Lions looked most vulnerable, with the promising but raw Daniel McStay the only genuine key forward in their set-up, with ruckman Matthew Leuenberger in support.

Collingwood have their own problems up forward, but they do boast size and experience in Travis Cloke and Jesse White. They've been overly reliant on Cloke and his often malfunctioning radar, but from the start the big man was leading up the ground, leaving White and smaller players Jamie Elliott and Alex Fasolo at his feet.

It was a canny move, because it left Justin Clarke – the only player who could run with Cloke – to be rag-dolled by the big man, while Daniel Merrett (the only player capable of matching Cloke's brute strength) stayed deep in defence on White, who played one of his best games for his club.

Cloke, too, looked free – mentally and physically – and was among the most influential early, seizing on a woeful error by Claye Beams to toe-poke a ball through in the goal square, then ripping Clarke off the footy to set up  Varcoe for his first goal as a Magpie.

A second goal to Cloke, Varcoe this time returning the favour, saw the Pies to half-time with a handy 25-point break. The Lions were winning enough possessions, but couldn't convert. That, you suspect, will be a recurring problem. Collingwood's other trump was  Sidebottom, who looks ready to move into the league's top bracket. He kicked Collingwood's first goal, had a devilishly clever hand in two others in the first half, then kicked the Magpies' first of the second to instantly make the Lions' job far more difficult.

A goal to an ex-Lion in Jack Crisp swiftly followed and quietened a sizeable home crowd, and while Jed Adcock mustered a badly needed reply,  Elliott and White came close to finishing the match.

When Rockliff left the field in agony, that really should have been it. But Collingwood sprayed some opportunities to let the Lions back in with a flurry of majors.

COLLINGWOOD 12.14 (86) BRISBANE LIONS 11.8 (74)

GOALS: Collingwood: J Blair 2 J White 2 S Sidebottom 2 T Cloke 2 A Fasolo J Crisp J Elliott T Varcoe. Brisbane Lions: A Christensen 2 D Rich 2 J Green 2 D McStay D Zorko J Adcock L Taylor M Leuenberger.

BEST: Collingwood: Sidebottom Pendlebury Cloke Swan Adams White Grundy. Brisbane Lions: Rich Rockliff Zorko Green Beams.

UMPIRES: Scott Jeffery, Jordan Bannister, Andrew Stephens.

CROWD: 31,240 at Gabba.