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Collingwood have shaded Sydney by seven points in an AFL thriller at the SCG, despite Sam Reid kicking six goals for the Swans.

A wasteful Collingwood have survived a six-goal blitz from Sydney's Sam Reid and another injury to Daniel Wells to eke out a seven-point AFL win at the SCG.

The Pies kicked four goals to one in the final quarter on Friday to overturn a ten-point deficit late in the game and move to 8-2 for the season with a 11.14 (80) to 11.7 (73) win.

Wells, who was playing his first match in almost a year, exerted plenty of influence before limping off in the third quarter.

He kicked three of the Pies' first four goals and finished their leading goalkicker.

'There's some damage to the knee - we don't know exactly what it is, we'll need to let that settle and let the docs make a final assessment of that, Collngwood coach Nathan Buckley said.

"He had a real impact in that first half. He was significant kicking three and giving a couple off, his pressure was good, he looked up and about."

Sydney also suffered, with co-captain Josh Kennedy coming off in the second half with a medial ligament injury which coach John Longmire expects will keep him out for a few weeks, while George Hewett was forced off with a head knock.

The Pies had 16 more contested possessions and a massive 69-27 win in the hitouts with Brodie Grundy notching a career-best 64 and Adam Treloar racking up 38 touches.

Chris Mayne and Callum Brown kicked two goals in a minute and Reid's brother Ben added another as Collingwood hit the front in the final quarter.

Nick Blakey kicked a goal to slash the deficit to two before Mayne sealed the Pies' win with his second major.

He initially kicked a behind, but was gifted a second shot from right in front because Sydney defender and co-captain Dane Rampe stepped over the mark for a 50-metre penalty.

Collingwood had just six goalkickers and Sydney five.

Reid, who had booted just seven goals in his first nine games, marked and kicked with authority to notch the third six-goal haul of his career.

"It was as good a game as I've seen Sam play," Longmire said.

"We gave it a fair bit tonight and it wasn't good enough in the end, but geez I reckon we had a go."

The Pies racked up 16 more inside 50s but inaccurate kicking meant they had to work harder to overcome a fiercely determined Swans side.

'The will to win has been really strong and we keep finding a way," Buckley said.

The Pies found themselves behind at quarter-time for the first time this season. with Sydney kicking the first three goals.

Collingwood then turned a nine-point quarter-time deficit into a halftime lead

Sydney kicked the last three goals of the third quarter, to take an eight-point lead into the final term.

Ryan Clark did a superb tagging job on Pies star Steele Sidebottom, not allowing him a single touch in the first quarter, and just three by halftime and 13 for the game.

Lance Franklin, who had missed the last four games with a hamstring injury, kicked two goals, but had just six touches.