Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse is a fan of wet weather football because it brings bravery to the fore, but he believes it also exposes how that bravery is being penalised by the AFL.

The Magpies showed plenty of courage on Saturday, fighting back from 21 points down in the last quarter to defeat St Kilda 12.17 (89) to 12.8 (80) in teeming rain at the MCG.

With conditions making precision football impossible, the willingness with which players kept throwing themselves into contests was the over-riding factor.

In a see-sawing game, Collingwood led by 14 points at halftime, the Saints kicked the next six goals to lead by 21 early in the final term, before the Magpies kicked 4.6 to nothing for the rest of the game to win by nine points.

The game was peppered throughout by debatable umpiring decisions, several of which led directly to goals.

Appropriately, the sealing goal, scored by Collingwood youngster Dale Thomas, came from a soft free kick, St Kilda defender Matt Maguire penalised for brushing Thomas' back with his hand in a marking contest.

Minutes earlier, Thomas was denied what would surely have been goal of the year - he baulked past two defenders and slotted a shot from the boundary - but the ball was controversially ruled out of bounds.

The later decision, that led to Thomas' match-winning goal, again brought into question the AFL's hands-in-the-back interpretation, with Malthouse pleading for change despite his side's win.

"My observation of this so far is that there's been a shoulder put up against the wall (by the AFL) to say it won't change," he said.

"They're the little things I suppose that do get under your skin, when it's so contentious and everyone is bewildered by it."

Also raising Malthouse's ire was a decision late in the third term, in which Collingwood's Tyson Goldsack was penalised in a marking contest with St Kilda's Jason Blake.

Both players showed enormous courage, with eyes on the ball as they flew from opposite directions, with the ball spilling free.

Malthouse, who praised first-year player Goldsack for his bravery, said he was surprised he was penalised and warned the AFL about umpiring courageous acts out of the game, particularly in wet weather.

"The courage aspect is just critical in these sorts of conditions and brave men deserve to be allowed to be brave," he said.

Malthouse also highlighted the performances of fellow youngsters Thomas, Sam Iles and Harry O'Brien, saying they could have struggled in the conditions, as he lauded his team's character.

"You go in (to a wet weather game) knowing light bodies are going to get knocked around a fair bit, but these blokes never cease to amaze me with their never-say-die attitudes, it's just been terrific," he said.

The Magpies, who moved to a 9-5 record and solidified their top four berth, next face a huge MCG clash with top-placed Geelong next Saturday.

Saints coach Ross Lyon said his team needed to mirror Collingwood's work ethic.

"Mick Malthouse's teams stand for teamsmanship and hard work and we knew they'd come," Lyon said.

"My view is I thought they outworked us and continued to run in the last quarter ... they smacked us with ground balls, smashed us with inside 50s."

The Saints fell to a 6-8 record, their finals chances now extremely slim.

One positive was Maguire's solid return, after not having played since round one with a foot injury.

But Aaron Hamill, yet to play this season with a knee injury, has had another setback, rested this weekend after his comeback through the VFL last round caused swelling in the knee.

© 2009 AAP
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