Pies and Demons brace for an epic

COLLINGWOOD captain Scott Pendlebury is praising their selfbelief, regardless of how they perform in one of the mostanticipated games this season.

The Monday blockbuster against Melbourne will be the first time their annual Queen’s Birthday clash has featured the two teams in such strong form.

Melbourne are third on the ladder and boasting a six-game winning streak, while Collingwood are seventh.

Last Sunday’s thrashing of Fremantle was the first time in two seasons the Magpies had kicked 20-plus goals in a match.

The question mark on Collingwood is that Adelaide are their only major scalp this season – all the other wins have been over sides now below them on the ladder.

But Pendlebury has dismissed that as irrelevant.

“We have self-belief, so it’s not going to validate anything for us if we are to get over the top of them,” he said.

“We’re just looking forward to the game. Both sides have beaten the same sides, except they’ve knocked off Gold Coast and we’ve lost to GWS.”

But Pendlebury said there was a different feeling about this holiday Monday clash.