Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley and the three players his club acquired during the October trade period, Jesse White, Taylor Adams and Patrick Karnezis, spoke to the media for the first time since the pre-season began on Wednesday morning.

As the rain pelted down outside, the coach and his new players took questions from a packed media contingent.

Collingwoodfc.com.au has summarised the key questions and responses.

A reflection of Collingwood's trading strategy last year
"The strategy of the club is to continue to renew and find ways of being better on-field. We got plenty from Quinten (Lynch) last year, we got nine games from Jordan (Russell) and Clinton (Young) was unable to get on the park," - Nathan Buckley. The coach also cited the club's ability to secure two first-round selections in the 2012 National Draft as beneficial for the club in the short, medium and long term.

The Heath Shaw trade
What we have seen is the economy of modern footy. We have had one player who has chosen to take his free agency option and move on and the club has acted on one player, as is our wont and right, to see what we can get from that for the betterment of the environment going forward. We have lost some talented players, done a bit of pruning over the off season, but that creates opportunity. Heater and I and Rodney Eade and the list management committee met and the issues were fairly clear, the situation was fairly clear. You would like things to go on forever but they don't. I understand the interest and conjecture around externally, but it is one of many player transactions that have taken part over the off season," - Nathan Buckley

The loss of Dale Thomas
"He really struggled with his body over the last two years and I wish him all the best, but we think there were enough question marks about it to allocate that many resources and funds from a salary cap perspective to those questions. I hope that (Thomas) gets over his ankle issues and that he is able to return to full fitness and I wish him all the best in that regard. We'll have 22 competitive players and we believe we'll be able to maintain and protect the core of the talent within the list. The majority of the players who finished top five in the Copeland Trophy in recent years are in tact," - Nathan Buckley.

Why has helped Collingwood at the trade table in recent years?
"A number of factors. We're rapt to have these three players come into our organisation. In the end, everyone wants a winner and a loser (in trades) but you can't measure that right now...we would love Patty to become a 150-200 gamer, the same with Tay. We would love all three to become premiership players," - Nathan Buckley

Buckley's expectations for Taylor Adams
"I've got high expectations of Tay. I coached him at under-16 level at an early age. He's very set on how he wants to go about his footy. He's strong over the ball and is a hard worker.

Adams' impressions of Buckley
"I think Bucks gets the best out of all his players and staff...he drives hard work and rewards it," - Taylor Adams.

Jesse White explains his last twelve months
"Last year was a tough time (when he nearly ended up at Adelaide as part of the Kurt Tippett deal). I went through the trade period but fell through there. I had to look at where to get better as a player and continue to improve," - Jesse White. The former Swan said he counts himself lucky to be at Collingwood, highlighting the club's "great history".

Patrick Karnezis discusses his move to Collingwood
"Everyone's got a different scenario so I can only speak for myself. I always had the desire to come back home and being a Collingwood supporter I'm happy to come back home. I didn't take notice of it (former teammate Pearce Hanley's tweet). It was all a bit of fun," - Patrick Karnezis.

Buckley on Karnezis
"He's a natural third tall. He could develop into a very dangerous forward with the capacity to go through the midfield once he builds his tank. He also has the size to play behind the ball...he has tremendous scope and growth," - Nathan Buckley.

Why isn't Collingwood traveling overseas during the pre-season?
"We made the decision not to go away pre-Christmas. The Collective Bargaining Agreement has reduced the time. We will spend time on developing the existing leadership program. Leadership is an important thing for us, but it won't be one bloke. We need to continue to develop the depth of our leadership and that has been a strong focus out of our season review. We expect to announce our leadership group around February, early February," - Nathan Buckley.



Is Collingwood a contender in 2014?
"We're getting better every day. We were a game-and-a-half off top four and if you want to contend then you need to finish top four, and against the top teams last year we fell away, we underperformed. We have these boys who have the opportunity to come into our organisation and make a difference with their actions and hard work. I'd love to see these young men become premiership players for this football club." - Nathan Buckley.

Where will Ben Reid play next year?
"We're open with Reidy. We believe in flexibility in roles. We will develop Ben and Lachie Keeffe in both (ends of the ground). The way the modern game is played, the midfield is probably as big as 14 players," - Nathan Buckley.