Collingwood made a remarkable 113 tackles in their duck-breaking one-point win over Sydney at the SCG on Friday night, but perhaps no individual defensive effort made coach Nathan Buckley more proud than that of Lance Franklin’s tagger for the evening, Henry Schade. 

The former Gold Coast key defender, who was picked up by the Magpies this season, was given the mighty task of shutting down Buddy in front of his home crowd in his 250th match.

And, after a tough couple of games to start the season, the 23-year-old did just that, restricting the superstar forward to 17 touches, seven marks and keeping Buddy goalless.

Buckley said he had no doubts about placing Schade on Franklin.

"He was the right match-up," Buckley said. 

"One thing he doesn’t waver on is his positioning. He knows exactly where his man is, where the ball is and he’s really aggressive with his positioning. He takes the game on in that regard. His offence has been pretty strong. He rarely makes the wrong decision.

"If you’re going to collapse after a couple of bad ones, you’re not going to make it in this caper. He’s a strong, resilient young man and we’re seeing him stand up. There’s still a lot of growth in him and we’re looking forward to that.

"(Franklin’s) a gun. We’ve got enormous respect for him. I think most clubs spend a bit of time in their match committees trying to work out how they’re going to handle him. Even tonight he looked very dangerous at times, which is why we’re so proud of Henry and his job on him, and the rest of the team, to be able quell his influence."

Schade was well backed up by Tyson Goldsack on Sam Reid, with support from Jeremy Howe and Brayden Maynard, who Buckley said had played his best game for the club.

"We’ve got some guys in there that are prepared to play footy the right way, which is encouraging," he said. 

While the back six pleased the coach, he also made a point of praising the pressure applied across midfield, which has come under some scrutiny in the Pies' opening two losses. 

"Scott (Pendlebury), Steele (Sidebottom) and Taylor (Adams), their leadership was first class," he said.

"They were our highest pressure players. There’s been a little bit of criticism around about their defensive pressure but they’re elite players, hardened players. I think Adam Treloar, also, has been fantastic for us.

"They continue to be really strong midfielders that work both ways. We want them to continue to round their games out and show us what they’ve got."