For the first time in his 405-game career, Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury started as the substitute in Saturday's 91-point victory over Port Adelaide.
Of that staggering 405 games, Pendlebury has been subbed out a total of six times, notably three in 2024 and two the year prior.
But the decision to star the 37-year-old with the 'sub vest' caused confusion among Pies fans, as the majority quizzed coach Craig McRae's reasoning.
McRae has gone on record in declaring his position on game management, and utilising certain types of players in specific periods of the season.
During the earlier rounds of the year, the game is noticeably quicker and highly transitional, while in the colder months, it tends to slow down.
"We had a good chat about a month ago. I'd been thinking about this for a long time, longer than that. We had a good chat about that," McRae said.
"To be honest, I was pretty keen to start him as sub last week. We talked through that. Six days after a travel. We had this game marked for over a month. This time of year is summer footy, it's hot and it's transitional.
"You want transitional runners and we wanted to pick a team (that suits that). Last week, we had that intention but we didn't execute parts of our game."
Coming into McRae's decision making was the fact that the Pies faced three consecutive six-day breaks from Opening Round to Round 2.
Collingwood fans also got a glimpse of their star recruit Dan Houston for the first time, after he served his five-match suspension for a crude bump on Izak Rankine late last year.
Houston amassed 27 disposals (88.9 per cent efficiency), 10 intercept possessions and six score involvements in the black and white across half back, paying dividends on his acquisition immediately.
"When you have someone come to your club you have this great optimism about what they're going to bring. But when they are actually in your system, you go 'woahh, he is going to make a difference'," McRae said.
"Not only does he win the ball in the air, he wins it on the ground and then uses it ridiculously well. He is a rare talent, we are very happy to have him."
Fellow club inclusions Tim Membrey and Harry Perryman impressed in their second outing for Collingwood.
Membrey slotted four goals on the evening from 17 possessions, and recorded a game-high 11 score involvements (including two goal assists).
Perryman was quieter than last week, registering 13 disposals and four tackles, but spent time across half back.
The Pies look to Friday's contest against the Western Bulldogs to continue their return to form.
