Pies' Prelim loss is ancient history
Luke Ball says that Collingwood is unlikely to take last year's Preliminary Final loss to the Swans into account when it prepares for Saturday's game.
Instead, midfielder Luke Ball says the club will focus on more recent history as they attempt shore up a finals berth.
The Swans beat the Pies by 47 points at the MCG in round nine and have won nine of their past 10 games, including the past six in a row.
"We probably won't (look at the Prelim)," Ball told AFL Media after Sunday's 79-point win over Essendon.
"I think we're better off looking at their last three weeks.
"They've got a lot of new players in their team so I'd imagine we would have had someone there watching them today (against the Western Bulldogs) and we would have looked at their last couple of weeks (more) than last year."
Coach Nathan Buckley agreed the round nine clash would offer a better guide on how to go about dissecting the reigning premiers.
"This opposition smashed us in all areas last time we played them," Buckley said.
"We've got a lot of catching up to do in that regard.
"The coaching staff and leaders need to make sure we have a real solid plan that we'll develop over the next six days."
Still, a return to ANZ Stadium, a ground at which the Pies had won seven consecutive games at before last year's Prelim, will hold some haunting memories.
Ball said the fact the Swans were responsible for bundling the Magpies out of last year's finals race would be a motivating factor and they were keen to build on Sunday's positive four-quarter performance.
"That will be fresh in the guys' minds and we certainly won't be dwelling on the record there too much," he said.
"We're going to come up against a red-hot side that are the benchmark in so many areas.
"Bucks' message at the end of that meeting (on Sunday) was 'dare to dream' so it will come around pretty quick and we're going to have a crack at them."
Ball said the win over the Bombers was satisfying because it had been the Pies' most consistent performance for the season, and it came against a tough competitor in harsh conditions.
He was instrumental in the win with 22 disposals, seven tackles and one goal after missing last week because of a few sore spots.
"I had a knock on my calf and on my knee after the Gold Coast game. Maybe if it was a final, you'd play but we just felt at round 18, you're better off missing one and trying to set yourself for the next couple of weeks," he said.
"There's a few little niggles that have been more nuisance value more than anything.
"It was nice to be back out there and play and hopefully now I can sort of string the rest of the games together and not have to go out again."
Ball said the Essendon win had given Collingwood ahead of a tough fortnight of games against the Swans and Hawthorn.
"It's the type of win you want to have at this time of year," he said.
"We're either going to rise to the occasion and earn a spot in the finals or we're going to falter and end up where we deserve to end up.
"That's the first little step. In six days' time, we're going to come up against the benchmark so we don't have too long to enjoy it."