MELBOURNE has suffered a 38-point loss to Collingwood on King's Birthday.

The Dees were looking to make a return to the winners' list after a disappointing loss to Fremantle in Round 12 but were unable to perform on the Big Freeze stage, falling to the Pies at a score of 14.5 (89) to 6.15 (51) at the MCG. 

While the home side of black and white opened the scoring within minutes of the first bounce, Melbourne started to control much of the play in the first term, but struggled to convert from opportunities, finishing the half with two goals from eight scoring shots. 

The Demons lost star Christian Petracca at half-time after he was kneed in the ribs late in the opening quarter and was significantly hampered in the second quarter before being replaced.

Collingwood star Nick Daicos also didn't finish the contest after being substituted out of the game in the fourth quarter with a suspected corked calf, after being clamped by Alex Neal-Bullen, who restricted the Brownlow Medal contender to a season-low 15 touches in a tagging masterclass.

Melbourne forward Jacob van Rooyen made the most of his return to the side, kicking three goals alongside nine marks, with skipper Max Gawn also making his mark with 27 disposals, 45 hitouts and seven intercepts.  

COLLINGWOOD          3.1     7.3     11.3     14.5 (89)
MELBOURNE               0.4     2.6     4.11     6.15 (51)  

GOALS
Collingwood: Kreuger 3, Harrison 3, Hoskin-Elliott 2, Schultz, Macrae, Lipinski, Frampton, N.Daicos, Cameron
Melbourne: van Rooyen 3, Pickett 2, Fritsch

BEST
Collingwood: Crisp, J.Daicos, Maynard, Howe, Noble, Kreuger
Melbourne: Gawn, Neal-Bullen, Pickett, Windsor

INJURIES
Collingwood: N.Daicos (corked calf)
Melbourne: Petracca (ribs)

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Jack Bytel (replaced Nick Daicos in the fourth quarter)
Melbourne: Jack Billings (replaced Christian Petracca in the third quarter)

Crowd: 84,659 at the MCG