St Kilda's players and fans might have guessed after 20 minutes this was not going to be their day.

The Saints had been jumped by Collingwood at the start of the Grand Final replay - just as they had been a week before - and surrendered all the early momentum to the Pies, whose tackling and pressure on their ball-carriers was simply suffocating.

Yet for their 20 minutes of dominance, Collingwood led by just 14 points - 2.2 to 0.0. And then, on a rare Saints' foray forward, Adam Schneider collected the ball at half-forward and sent a right-foot pass floating towards captain Nick Riewoldt, whom he had spied unattended in the goal square.

Riewoldt duly took the mark but then, in attempt to roost the ball high into the third tier behind the Punt Rd goals, took a split-second longer than he needed to swing his big leg back. In that nano-moment, Heath Shaw stole in on Riewoldt's blind side, dived full length in front of the Saints captain and, in trying to spoil, dislodged the ball from his hands.

It dribbled through for a rushed behind; the Collingwood throng - already in strong voice after their scorching start - bellowed their approval. For they understood, as the Saints did, what a significant moment they'd witnessed.

The St Kilda talisman and leader - with a golden chance to put the Saints back in the game, right in front of the largest bloc of red, white and black fans - was frankly made to look silly. And amateurish.

Even if Riewoldt had let Schneider's kick go, it probably would have rolled through for a goal. Even if he'd just quickly banged it on to his boot for a less glamorous and less emphatic six-pointer, it would have had the desired affect. But the moment had passed, and opportunity lost.

It came as little surprise that Riewoldt's confidence was pretty much shot after that and - even though he tried valiantly for the next three quarters - he was comprehensively outpointed by Nathan Brown.

The Saints everywhere were harried and harassed, given no time and breathing space to size up the situation and get off a comfortable pass. Sam Gilbert turned over the ball after a few minutes of the match then Nick Dal Santo, Adam Schneider and Lenny Hayes all followed suit, kicking the ball straight to the opposition because they were under so much pressure.

Of course, the Riewoldt misfire wasn't the end of the Saints' chances. They had other opportunities to get back into the game but the die had been cast, as had the bad-luck hex.

Three times in the second quarter, Gilbert missed chances on the run from within 40 metres at the city end.

He'd had a brilliant first term when, with Sam Fisher, Brendon Goddard and Zac Dawson, he repelled wave after wave of Collingwood attacks, so it was hard to be too critical of him.

But when shifted to the forward line to keep Nick Maxwell in check, and add some zip to a pretty static set-up, Gilbert was clever enough to create the chances - he just couldn't cap off that good work with goals.

And then - even more significantly - Adam Schneider missed two very gettable chances either side of half-time which would have put the Saints right back in the match.

On the half-time siren, after the Saints had dominated the early part of the second term, the little No.13 took a mark 40 metres from goal, on a smallish angle, and if ever a small forward - who is paid a handsome salary each season to convert chances like this - needed to stand up and be counted, it was then. But he wasn't up to the challenge, pulling the chance wide.

That meant St Kilda went in to the main break with a measly 1.8 (14) to its name, and trailing by 27 points.

But Justin Koschitzke won the clearance at the opening bounce of the third term, got a quick kick to Riewoldt who marked at centre half-forward and got the ball on to Schneider who ran to 40 metres and, without any pressure to speak of, again pulled his kick to the left. A goal there would have given the Saints a perfect start to the half and brought them to within a gettable 21 points.

The next five scoring shots were Collingwood's, however, as the Pies stretched their lead to 46 points, and that, as they say, was that. Game over.

And all credit to them for they were the best side of the premiership season and were deserving winners. In improving upon the Saints' defensive game plan of 2009, Mick Malthouse's team proved almost impossible to score against. Such was the pressure, and the numbers they had at each contest, and the ferocity of their tackling, that the Saints were thrown out of their stride.

The fact that Collingwood managed to reduce St Kilda's number of entries into the forward 50 to fewer than 40 in both Grand Finals speaks volumes for the effectiveness of their shut-down game, and willingness of their players to do the selfless things for the greater good of the team.

Scott Pendlebury might have been awarded the Norm Smith Medal but, from where I was sitting, he was not nearly as effective or eye-catching as Steele Sidebottom. Again the stats lied, and the stats-watchers made to look lame. Again I think the judges erred in their selection - panel chairman Tom Harley and judge Dermott Brereton neglecting to include Sidebottom in their top three, which seems unfathomable.

The Age's Martin Blake and ABC's Stan Alves awarded the unfashionable Sidebottom their maximum votes as best afield, while Danny Frawley gave him two votes. But I suppose, like the choice of Hayes last week, the Norm Smith winner is a peripheral issue about which we can all throw in our tuppence ha'penny's worth.

What is beyond dispute is the worthiness of Collingwood as the 2010 AFL premier, and how Heath Shaw's incredible spoil after 20 minutes was the pivotal moment in the match.