Collingwood are the most miserly first-quarter team in more than 50 years and are on pace to become the best defensively we have seen in more than 100 years.

The Magpies jump teams in the first quarter, not so much by starting fast, but by making the opposition start very slowly.

The Magpies have conceded the lowest first-quarter points of any team over the first nine rounds. Not just this year but in more than 100 years.

In nine games the Magpies have given up just 87 points. The next-best team, Adelaide, have conceded 139 points. The worst defensive effort was unsurprisingly from the bottom-of-the-ladder Blues who have given up 246 points in total in their first quarters this year. That is, Carlton have conceded nearly three times as much as Collingwood in first quarters and so handicapped themselves for the three quarters to come.