Having just endured one of the most emotional weeks of their football lives Collingwood players face another unique preparation ahead of Friday night's Preliminary Final in Sydney.

Former teammate John McCarthy's funeral is expected to be held on Thursday at St Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Sorrento.

The Magpies must fly out the same day for the Harbour City.

"I'm sure there'll be a huge amount of guys going down on Thursday, so we'll just have to wait and see how we work around training," defender Alan Toovey said at recovery on Sunday.  

Watch the highlight's from Saturday's emotional win.

"When something like that happens it really puts into perspective that footy is a game and life is a bit bigger than that."

There was an extraordinary mix of emotions after the Magpies 13-point win at the MCG on Saturday, which Toovey described as one of the most unique he's been a part of.

"It was kind of a happy-sad moment, and I think everyone was just really proud of the way we all played," Toovey said. 

"When the siren went everyone was kind of really happy, jumping around, we'd just made another prelim … as soon as we were going down the race you could see people's faces that they were thinking about J-Mac and thinking about his family.

A pictorial tribute to John McCarthy following the 13-point win.

"I think the whole week was a different week, we've never experienced anything like that before, and to have a win like we did last night was definitely very memorable."

Recovery is the big focus for Magpies players over the next few days before one main session, most likely Wednesday.

It's expected the team will attend McCarthy's funeral service on Thursday morning before flying to Sydney late in the afternoon ahead of Friday night's game.

Matt Thompson is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @MattThompsonAFL