Geelong won by 38 points, 18.11 (119) to 12.9 (81).
A crowd of 99,537 packed the MCG for the game.
Jimmy Bartel was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground.
Bartel, Tom Hawkins and Steve Johnson led a long list of heroes for the Cats, who have now claimed three premierships in the past five years.
Hawkins kicked three goals in the third term and marked everything early in the final quarter and although his two shots at goal sailed wide, he set up Johnson for a telling goal with a quick handball.
Johnson, who wrenched his knee against West Coast a week ago and was in doubt until an hour before the game, finished with four goals in an outstanding display.
Cameron Ling moved as quick as he has for years after snapping a goal to seal the victory with five minutes remaining.
The loss is Collingwood's third for the season - all against the Cats. It means coach Mick Malthouse bows out in defeat. He will be replaced by Nathan Buckley for next season.
Chris Scott has become the 13th coach in history to coach a premiership in his first season.
Tom Hawkins was the star of the third term, kicking three great goals.
Bartel showed why he is regarded as arguably the best wet weather player in the game, kicking an outstanding set shot from close to the boundary as the heavens opened at the MCG.
But he was matched by an equally brilliant effort at the other end from Magpie Steele Sidebottom, who spun out of trouble and kicked a goal from 45m.
The quarter was marred by controversy, with Sharrod Wellingham awarded a goal after his kick appeared to glance off the goalpost.
In attack, none were as astonishing as Steve Johnson, who remarkably kicked four goals after his presence seemed impossible just a week ago when he crumbled to the ground against West Coast with a knee injury.
Bartel is perhaps the most dependable kick for goal in the competition. Quite simply, he confirmed his status as a champion.
Also outstanding was Tom Hawkins, who proved formidable in the air when thrashing All Australian defender Ben Reid.
Hawkins' worth as a footballer was the subject of much debate until this final's series, but the big forward has come of age. He was the dominant forward in the third term, his three goals _ two of which were off the ground _ giving the Cats the advantage in a match closing on being a classic grand final.
In a quarter where the lead changed five times, it was Hawkins who began proceedings. A controversial decision allowed Sharrod Wellingham to reclaim the lead for the Pies, though the goal umpire made a clear mistake given the ball clipped the post as it went through.
Geelong's champion defender Matthew Scarlett remonstrated strongly with the umpires, though to no avail. While the Magpies had 21 clearances to ten in the term, the Cats managed to withstand their pressure and looked more threatening in attack.
Bartel, in particular, shaped as a match winner, initially when marking strongly to goal from a pocket and then when setting up Mitch Duncan for another with a well-weighted handball.
It was a pulsating first half where both teams held an advantage on different occasions but were unable to break the spirit of their rival.
The Cats began brilliantly when Travis Cloke goaled within 13 seconds of the grand final beginning. When he kicked a second soon after, the signs were ominous for Collingwood.
It also forced a switch, with All Australian defender Leon Davis moved after being too loose on the Cat.
But Travis Cloke, the dominant power forward of the competition, brought the Magpies back into the contest with consecutive goals. The first, a magnificent effort from 55m, sparked both Collingwood and the Magpies.
That Johnson was playing seems miraculous given his injury a week ago, yet the 2007 Norm Smith Medallist showed his agility was not affected by his damaged knee when snapping a goal to put the Cats back in front. After Luke Ball and Joel Selwood swapped goals in time-on, the Cats held a one-point lead at the first break.
Collingwood started the second term brilliantly when kicking the first three goals of the term. A year after starring with Swan Districts in the WAFL grand final, Andrew Krakouer turned it on at the MCG with two second quarter goals. Cloke's outstanding early form continued, the Magpie kicking a second stunning goal from 55m.
When James Podsiadly feel awkwardly to dislocate his shoulder _ the Cat needing a stretcher to be taken from the field _ the ascendancy was Collingwood's.
Yet somehow the Cats found a way back into the contest. Geelong kicked three of the last four goals of the term _ the latter an outstanding goal from Bartel from the boundary line _ to reduce the margin to three points at half-time.
While the switch of Lonergan onto Cloke, in place of Harry Taylor, had slowed the Collingwood star, midfielder Scott Pendlebury was winning the ball at will. For Geelong, it was Selwood who was the standout, though Paul Chapman and James Kelly were beginning to exert an influence.
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