"That game was so good for us," captain Gabi Simpson said.

"The first quarter we came out really strong and dominant, we've been building to that performance," she said.

The Firebirds had never been the Magpies in three previous meetings, including s five-goal loss earlier this season, but in the last round of the season, they were able to achieve their biggest winning margin.

"We love a good challenge and I think that is what really drove us today, as well as finals, but if we simplify it, we've never beaten Collingwood and that puts a lot of fire in our belly," Simpson said.

It was already an emotion-driven match as Magpies’ players Sharni Layton, Erin Bell and Shae Brown all retiring from netball after this game. However, the Firebirds weren't about to let them have the perfect send-off.

The home teams defenders were sublime in shutting down the Magpies with goalkeeper Laura Geitz finishing with four intercepts in the backcourt, alongside up-and-coming star Kim Jenner with seven.

The Firebirds came out with intensity to sprint away to a 21-9 lead at quarter-time before extending their lead to 20 goals by halftime. But whatever Kirsty Keppich-Birrell said to the Magpies as halftime worked.

It was a different Magpies that took to the court in the third quarter, restricting the Firebirds to just 14 goals and pinching the bonus point.

"I was really worried about this game and it was always a hard one for us because we've never beaten the Pies so to learn from what we didn't do well in Tasmania to step out on the court today and play comprehensive, strong defensive game and strong attacking game is really pleasing," coach Roselee Jencke said.

"Our main thing is being better each week," she said.

It is now a waiting game as they could finish in fourth depending on the results from the game later this afternoon between the Sunshine Coast Lightning and Melbourne Vixens.