Nathan Brown somehow managed to cage a raging bull in the final three quarters of Collingwood's loss to Geelong on Friday night.

Brown started the game on Mitch Clark but was switched to Tom Hawkins late in the first quarter.

Before Brown moved to him, Hawkins had kicked just one goal but he had a hand in five of Geelong's other six majors for the term, being directly credited with goal assists for four of them.

Even more concerning for the Magpies was the bull-like way Hawkins was barging around the Cats' forward 50.

Hawkins took just two marks for the term but more than made up for it at ground level where he seemed to break tackles almost at will.

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But after quarter-time Hawkins had just two possessions, one mark, one tackle and kicked one behind.

Given his barnstorming start, Brown's ability to shackle him was outstanding.

But the key defender modestly downplayed his performance when he spoke with AFL Media after the Pies' 41-point loss, saying simply it had been "not too bad".

"He got a few on me and I got some back, it was another tough battle," Brown said.

"But he obviously ended up on top because they won and we didn't get the four points, which was disappointing."

Brown said he had been conscious of not getting sucked into tests of strength with Hawkins, to whom he was conceding 3cm and 10kg.

"You obviously can't get into a wrestling match with him because you're undersized and you're not as strong as him, so you don't want to wrestle him," Brown said.

"So you've got to change your angles, try and jump and read the ball as best you can.

"But in the end I suppose you just compete desperately and try and halve the contests as much as you can."

Brown said the Magpies had effectively lost Friday night's game in the first quarter when the Cats flew out of the blocks to outscore them seven goals to one.

"They came out with more energy and were tougher and stronger than us," he said.

"In this day and age we just can't give sides that much of a head-start."

The Cats kicked the first four goals after quarter-time to stretch their lead to a game-high 60 points late in the second term.

But the Pies hit back with seven of the next eight goals, with Jesse White's major at the 14-minute mark of the final term cutting Geelong's lead to 23 points.

Brown was confident at that point Collingwood could ride its momentum to claim a remarkable comeback win.

"I think we've reeled in that sort of deficit before and I know the boys are fit so I thought we were a chance," he said.

"But obviously Geelong kicked that couple late and then the game was over.

"We need to address our start but we can't be disappointed because we've got to bounce back next week against Richmond.

"We know that we're not going to win every game so we've got to learn from it and get back to what we do well."