Melbourne superstar Kysaiah Pickett has kicked a goal in the final minute to seal a thrilling eight-point victory over Collingwood in a cracking King’s Birthday clash.
In a topsy-turvy final quarter, both sides had multiple chances before Pickett finally iced it with a brilliant goal.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Kozzy Pickett seals it for the Dees
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The Demons were clinging onto a two-point lead when Pickett marked with under 40 seconds on the clock inside forward 50.
That would normally be game over, but instead of taking his 30 seconds, he made the surprise decision to quickly play on and kick the goal.
Had he missed, he would have given the Pies one final chance.
“Wow. He could have taken the full 30 seconds and iced the game … he has (iced it) anyway,” Nick Riewoldt said.
Hamish McLachlan added: “Does that make any sense what he just did?”
It capped a rollercoaster match for Pickett, who kicked the first two goals of the match to get the MCG rocking.
But he also spurned two late chances to seal the match before finally doing so with the last-minute snap.
He had a set shot from 20m out that failed to make the distance and also kicked one on the full while streaming into an open goal.
Down the other end, Jordan De Goey had the chance to put the Pies in front but his set shot drifted wide.
The Demons were trailing by five points at three-quarter time, but Bayley Fritsch put them in front with two goals before Collingwood immediately hit back through Angus Anderson.
Paddy Cross then put the Demons back in front in the 11th lead change of the match.
There was still seven minutes left on the clock at that stage, but the Demons successfully milked a few minutes with some possession football.
Pickett had the chance to almost seal it for the Demons with a brilliant intercept mark, but his set-shot snap from just 20m out failed to make the distance.
De Goey then had his moment before Pickett finally sealed it in the final minute.
Pickett finished with 28 disposals, five clearances and three goals despite being well held for most of the second half, and was awarded the Neale Daniher Trophy.
Jack Steele (26 touches), Harvey Langford (27) and Tom Sparrow (23) also shone, Jake Lever and Max Gawn stood tall, and Harrison Petty kicked two goals.
Collingwood gun Nick Daicos starred with 35 disposals, six clearances and two goals, with brother Josh (30 touches) and Patrick Lipinski (28) also busy.
Melbourne (8-5) move back into the top six, while Collingwood (5-7-1), who lost vice-captain Brayden Maynard to a dislocated shoulder in the second term, sit just outside the wildcard finals places after a fourth loss in five matches.
Captain Max Gawn conceded it was looking “dicey” at the end.
“Kozzy put that one on the full, De Goey went down the other end and luck was on our side,” he told Channel 7 after the match.
“I’m just super proud. Last year we were in a lot of these close games and we weren’t winning them, and we needed to learn how to win.
“Hopefully you saw it today, we didn’t shut down, we kept taking the game on … we might have lost it, but we would have lost it trying to win, which is a much better way to play.”
Both sides lost key players to injury with Brody Mihocek taken to hospital after appearing to convulse on the ground after a horror incident with Billy Frampton in the second quarter.
Play was stopped for close to 10 minutes before he was taken from the field on a stretcher.
Brayden Maynard was also ruled out in the second quarter after dislocating his shoulder twice.
The first King’s Birthday blockbuster and Big Freeze event since Neale Daniher’s passing a fortnight ago was a cracker, with neither side leading by more than 16 points throughout.
After the rival teams ran through a joint banner in a tribute to Daniher, Pickett immediately made his presence felt by slotting the opening two goals.
He tallied 17 first-half disposals and traded blows with Daicos, who had 22 touches and two goals of his own before the main break.
Jordan De Goey also slotted two brilliant majors, helping Collingwood to a narrow lead at halftime – 6.3 to 5.7.
Controversy erupted in the third quarter when play was stopped by an umpire after Pickett had his foot stepped on and stayed on the ground.
Melbourne were in possession about 30 metres away when the whistle went, and received a free kick to restart play.
Kade Chandler laced out Petty, who kicked a goal as Pickett shook off the injury.
Collingwood kicked three goals to two for the term, and turned for home with a five-point advantage.
— with AAP
