COLLINGWOOD has passed most tests with flying colours over the past 18 months. The trial presented by Hawthorn on Sunday might have been a bit different, but the result was the same.

The Hawks have honed their higher possession, short kicking strategy in the hopes of defeating the Pies' stifling press, but still found themselves on the wrong end of a 41-point result when the final siren sounded at the MCG.

"In many respects it was a little bit of a test with a difference," Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse said.

"We haven't played against that type of side [much].

Watch Mick Malthouse address the media after the win on CTV.

"Geelong generate a lot of football [possessions] and Hawthorn, even today when they lost by five or six goals, still generated a lot of football, so to play our style and stick to our style … I thought we held up ok."

The Hawks still had nearly 50 more short kicks than Collingwood, but they were often forced into giving off an ill-advised handball by the weight of opposition numbers around them.

But if the Magpies passed their most recent test in impressive style does that mean Hawthorn's challenge was a failure in equal measure?

"It's hard to say that it's wrong when Luke Hodge has ended up with 40 [possessions] and Sam Mitchell 34 … and they both use the ball so well so who's to say if it's right wrong or indifferent?" Malthouse said.

"Clearly it helped their team to get where they've got and our role today was to make sure that we minimised any damage. We didn't do that overly well when you consider [those numbers]."

Ben Reid (31 possessions) played a damaging hand as a loose man in defence for Collingwood and was also a trusted ally of Chris Tarrant's whenever the ball was sent in Lance Franklin's direction.

Malthouse is keen to ensure he has several players who can go through that position to avoid suffering the same fate as Hawthorn's Grant Birchall, who struggled with the attention of Leigh Brown in a negating forward role.

"We rotated that as best we could to encourage players to find a bit of space and work the ball," he said.

"It's important that that's not [one player]. Historically you'd say that Heath Shaw has been used there, Nick Maxwell [too], but we were pretty keen to make sure that all players [rotated through].

"The exception, possibly, was Chris Tarrant, he never got in a position to free himself up, but all the other boys at varying stages were able to generate a bit of two-on-one and support each other."