The 25-year old kept star St Kilda midfielder Nick Dal Santo to just 16 possessions and he played a key part in an important win for the Magpies.
So what chance is there of an encore performance on Saturday night as the Magpies visit Patersons Stadium to play Fremantle?
Macaffer is keeping mum on the prospect, explaining at the Westpac Centre on Wednesday that the Magpies were only in the first stages of planning for the clash with the Dockers.
"We'll have a meeting when we get over to Perth and we'll find out if I have a role to play," he said ahead of the club's main training session for the week.
Macaffer has played as a defensive half-forward before, but last Friday marked the first time he was given direct responsibility for an opposition midfielder.
And it's not like he could seek counsel from teammates about such a role in the lead-up. The Pies have not exactly been renowned in recent times for their lock down ability.
"It's not something we have done much at Collingwood," Macaffer noted. "But I had a crack and I enjoyed it."
He nominated David Mundy and Michael Barlow as two Fremantle midfielders the Pies will need to keep track of. "If we shut them down it will give us a great chance to win."
Irrespective of whether his role will be pure shut down, or one of general accountability, Macaffer forecast a tough evening against a side that does the defensive stuff better than most.
"Teams under Ross Lyon are pretty defensive minded and that's something we're trying to work on as well and get better at and going into this week we're expecting that sort of game," he said.
Much of the intrigue at Collingwood this week surrounds the prospect of the return, at long last, of midfielder Luke Ball, who has missed more than a year of football since tearing his ACL early last season.
Complicating the decision is that the Pies have a VFL bye this week, so if Ball doesn’t play, he will not play for at least another fortnight, which would rule him out of the Geelong game the following week.
Macaffer was also sidelined last year following a knee reconstruction and the pair spent much of the year rehabilitating together. Like all at Collingwood, he has missed the hardness that Ball brings to every midfield contest.
"He's just a fantastic guy. Brings some leadership to the side, which is something we've been lacking with 'Maxy' (Nick Maxwell) and 'Beamsy' (Dayne Beams) out of the side."
The Magpies don't mind travelling and have won their last two outings at Subiaco against the Dockers.
"We're a tight knit group that enjoys each other's company," Macaffer explained.
"It's two days away together, everyone hates Collingwood and we embrace that."
