COLLINGWOOD'S horrible run with injury in 2012 might yet come with a silver lining.

As stars of the calibre of Dale Thomas, Luke Ball and Chris Tarrant watch on sidelined, the challenge has been issued for the next tier of Magpies to stand up for their team.

Watch the CTV highlights of Collingwood's 21-point win here.

Dayne Beams and Steele Sidebottom have had the good fortune to start their careers in an elite team but with the Magpies' diminishing stocks in recent times both players have assumed greater importance.

And the pair, who joined the club on the same day in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft, showed in Friday night's game against the Bulldogs that they are more than ready to take that next step.

Beams had 33 possessions and 11 tackles while Sidebottom's numbers in the same columns were 29 and six.

Sidebottom agreed the injuries to several of their senior teammates had opened an opportunity.

Read Friday night's match report here.

"The more time we can spend in the middle, it is only going to help us and help the team going forward," Sidebottom said after the game.

Sidebottom said he was not surprised by the physicality of the Bulldogs on Friday night, particularly in the first half. He said the Magpies were steadily improving after early-season losses to flag fancies Hawthorn and Carlton.

"Bucks in the pre-game made a focus of their contested footy and that is something we pride ourselves on as well. It was a good hard contested game of footy and it is good for us to come up against those kind of teams," he said.

Hear from Nathan Buckley in his post-match press conference.

"We're taking little steps. It's only early on and we probably didn't have the best start to the year but if we can keep chipping away at it and keep taking steps forward it will hold us in good stead."