We ask Magpies assistant and forward line coach Paul Hudson about Friday night’s big win over North Melbourne, and the big task awaiting – St Kilda.

Do you think Friday night was Collingwood’s most consistent, four-quarter effort of 2009?
I think so. From an offensive and forward perspective I was happy with the conversion. Playing at Telstra Dome helps with conversion as there’s no wind conditions to consider.

It looked a really good solid win over North Melbourne. Did it feel like the guys were starting to get back to some of their best footy?
Yeah, we had Heath Shaw, Anthony Rocca and Alan Didak still out of the side, so the win was really encouraging from that perspective. Just going through the list, young Jaxson Barham has really taken his chances in the three games that he’s played and Sharrod Wellingham came into the side along with Brent Macaffer and they’re doing enough to keep their place. It’s great that we’re getting guys going through the team at this time of the year and giving them opportunities and that will be beneficial for us later in the year.

A guy like Macaffer probably becomes more important this week against St Kilda given you lose John Anthony through suspension. That must be disappointing?
It is. We’re not defending Jack, he’s a little disappointed he’s let the boys down.
It was just a lack of experience on Jack’s part in learning how to deal with that situation. Sometimes it takes something like this for a young player to go through to understand that that’s not the way to deal with it.

Teams have found it really difficult to score against St Kilda, so I guess your role and that of the forwards, in particular, is going to be a huge one against the Saints?
Yeah, well our efficiency is going to be crucial this week. How we use the ball and our ability to stick to our game plan is going to be the key.

Last year Nick Riewoldt was one guy who caused the Pies some pretty big problems. You’re going to have to watch him pretty closely because he’s in pretty good form.
Yeah, he is. I hope his goalkicking form continues! He’s been their focal point up forward, along with [Justin] Koschitzke, so we’re conscious of how important they are to St Kilda and we’ll hopefully stop the supply from getting down there.

A lot of people are saying the Saints, along with Geelong, are the benchmark team at the moment. That said, are you guys really steeling yourself for this one to see if you’ve made some inroads since your game against the Cats?
It will be a bit of a litmus test for us. We’re 3-3 and we don’t want to be playing catch up when it comes to our ratio of wins to losses later in the year. There hasn’t been any special talk about the importance of this game but deep down the guys know it’s a great challenge this week to take on a side that’s undefeated.

Do you see the 10-day break as a hindrance or is a good thing in terms of being able to freshen the guys up a bit?
It’s a good thing. Both mentally and physically it gives us an extra couple of days, so hopefully that comes through in the game on Monday night. You can’t rely on that, so we’ve got a side to pick and there’s still some players in the VFL side that are putting on pressure which is really encouraging.

The list’s in a pretty healthy position with that pressure from the lower grade, isn’t it?
If you’ve got everyone on the paddock, that’s what it creates. It’s great to have that bit of rivalry when it comes to positions with players trying to take their opportunities.