Collingwood has sought clarification from the umpiring department about the tactics used by tagger Brent Macaffer.

Macaffer received strong criticism around his defensive stopping role on Richmond star Trent Cotchin last week, leading Magpies coach Nathan Buckley to try to clear up some of the misconceptions around the battle.

The Magpie gave away five free kicks when attempting to slow Cotchin down, one or two of them "questionable" from Collingwood's point of view.

"We've had communication with the umpiring department and asked them to send any unwarranted or missed free kicks through in regard to the Macaffer and Cotchin duel," Buckley said on Tuesday.

"They sent through two edits. One of them was questionable, in our eyes. So their feedback was that the game was umpired well, which is against the hysteria that's taken place."

Buckley will not instruct Macaffer to refine the way he carries out his run-with jobs, saying he did it particularly well against the Tigers.

"He gave a couple of free kicks away. He's a ball player, he's a fair player, he's a disciplined player," Buckley said.

"I've been on the receiving end of taggers my whole (playing) career – the time they have the most influence is when you stop getting to the next contest and you worry about them and then it becomes a bit of a wrestle.

"That's as much on the person tagged, as it is the 'tagger'".  Buckley believed the media coverage of Macaffer's tactics had been blown way out of proportion.

"I think the reaction to Friday night has been hysterical," he said.

"We know where the focus is going to be on Saturday at 1.40pm. It's going to be on Caff and whoever he goes and picks up, it's going to be on Clokey (Travis Cloke).
"The umpires are going to be under some duress. Let's just play the game, it's not in bad shape – it's going all right."

Buckley said early signs were that Nathan Brown, who has shaken off a shoulder injury, would be available this week against the Kangaroos.
Brown and Sam Dwyer (knee) joined in full contact drills, and could slot back into the senior team alongside Taylor Adams, who has served his one-week suspension.

The Magpies will receive the full medical report before sitting down for team selection on Tuesday afternoon.

"To the eye he (Brown) looks like he's ready to go, so he's going to give us a selection quandary with our tall backs," Buckley said."