Collingwood was playing for "pride and respect" on Friday night and did what was needed to atone for what coach Nathan Buckley said was the worst quarter of football played under him.

Despite facing a Geelong team playing to keep its finals hopes alive, it was the Magpies who were more desperate and committed at the MCG, returning to the team-first principles Buckley has tried to instill and winning by 48 points.

In the aftermath of a result that will provide a springboard for 2016, Buckley praised his players for responding after turning into "22 individuals" in a nightmare fourth quarter against Richmond last Saturday.

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"We spoke about pride and respect," the coach said after the easy win over the Cats.

"In this day and age in footy, you can get jumped on pretty quickly, and that was as poor a quarter as I've seen us play in my time as senior coach.

"The players to a man have given great effort, so we didn't want to put in a performance like that or lower our colours to that extent (again) … that was pretty much the discussion in the review. 

"So to see the players take ownership of the performance and of the preparation and then to execute was really good sign."

Friday night's win saw the Magpies lead from start to finish, building a 50-point lead at the main break and fighting off two minor challenges from the Cats in the second half.

VIDEO: Watch Nathan Buckley face the media post-match.

A feature of the performance was the Magpies' instinct to help each other both when they had the ball and when they were defending. 

"We want to continue to be a side that plays for each other," Buckley said.

"It was back to what we've expected and back to what we've seen for the majority of the year.

"That was probably one of the closer performances to four quarters that we've seen from us all year.

"That was an encouraging aspect of the game." 

There were encouraging signs right through the Collingwood midfield on Friday night, most notably the run-with job of Levi Greenwood on Geelong star Joel Selwood.  

Greenwood missed the first 10 matches this season with a leg injury but, after returning through the VFL, has played the last six matches and shown he will be a key cog in 2016. 

"There's no guarantees in footy, but Levi's a mature player," Buckley said.  

"He's a contested ball animal. He hunts the ball, he hunts the man and he's really disciplined.

"We've got a glimpse the last couple of weeks of what we recruited and the character of a bloke who gives himself absolutely to the team cause.

"His last eight quarters have been very impressive."

Buckley said the Magpies were unlikely to risk Dane Swan in round 23 after he suffered a medial tweak, while Ben Sinclair's season was ended by a broken hand.

Travis Cloke was a late withdrawal on Friday night after the final warm-up with tightness behind his knee but Buckley said the key forward had not suffered a fresh injury. 

"He should be right, but we'll see when the dust settles," Buckley said.

"We had a fresh, fit player there in Jesse (White), so we made that call late."