Escape artist Harry Houdini extricated himself from many a mortal pickle during his illustrious career. His breakout stunts were increasingly elaborate. One traffic-stopping crowd-pleaser was being dangled by his ankles from a crane while encased in a straitjacket.
Another act had him manacled by handcuffs and leg-irons inside a nailed packing crate, which was then lowered into New York’s East River. The simplest was trying to claw his way to the surface after being buried six feet under, which nearly killed him. The Magpies tried another escape act against the Suns, but couldn’t pull it off this time.
Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images Houdini’s rather ghoulish appeal rested on the fact death was near certain if he failed. Such is the allure of the Collingwood Football Club under coach Craig McRae. The Magpies are nothing if not value for money.
But after escaping being buried alive by North Melbourne (metaphorically speaking, from 54 points down), they finally pushed their luck too far against the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday night. McRae was left asking his side: how many times do you want to put yourselves in this position? This season, Collingwood, like Houdini, has escalated the degree of difficulty of its stunts. Since round two, they’ve maintained a near-unbeaten run despite an injury crisis that threatened to overwhelm them.
So it was odd that, with Scott Pendlebury, Jordan De Goey and Brody Mihocek back in the team, the Pies looked tired against the Suns; at.
