COLLINGWOOD ruckman Darren Jolly was more than prepared for a tough encounter in his 200th game.

Not only was he returning from an illness that kept him out of last week's win over Gold Coast, but he faced the prospect of coming up against Essendon's ruck triumvirate Paddy Ryder, David Hille and Tom Bellchambers.

As it turned out, Ryder spent the day as a defender against Travis Cloke but Jolly knew he had his work cut out regardless.

"On Anzac Day as well they had three ruckmen. I knew it was going to be a tough challenge but I was ready for it and I was excited about taking them on. I think we got on top of them," Jolly said.

2011 hasn't exactly been a dream run for the durable Jolly, having missed nine weeks with a knee injury in the middle of the season.

Jolly said that not only is the injury giving him no problems, but his body feels refreshed from the rest.

"The knee's 100 per cent, I haven't even got it taped today. It's the first game I've played without it taped," he said.

"It wasn't ideal to have as many games as I had off but we'll move forward and look forward to the finals now and finish the year off."

A surprise loss looked a possibility at the quarter-time break after the Bombers booted eight goals in the first quarter.

Essendon held the lead at the half-time break and Jolly said the message from coach Mick Malthouse was clear.

"Have a go really [was the message]. We didn't have a go in the first half. We had a lot of players who didn't play that well and to Essendon's credit, they were fantastic," he said.

"So we had to turn the contested footy around and get them back up. We did that in the second half."

The Magpies stormed home in the last quarter, booting 10 goals, including one from Jolly at the 24-minute mark to put his team 61 points up.

The Collingwood ruckman is usually not one for playing up to the crowd but he turned around to celebrate the goal with the Magpie faithful to celebrate the moment and the significance of 200 AFL games.

"I did. I gave the crowd a smile and I knew we were home by then with the margin," Jolly said.

"I took it in after I kicked the goal and had a look around."