Missed the live-stream? Here are the key takeaways from what Bucks had to say to the media on Tuesday afternoon.

Macrae to play. It’s the news Pies fans have been dreaming of for the past few weeks. After a month of really solid performances in the VFL practice matches, and hard work at training, Collingwood’s pick 19 in the the 2020 draft will make his debut against West Coast on Friday night.

• “Was leaning in against Dangerfield last week which was a good match up for him.”
• “Natural ball winner, in the midfield and up forward.”

Bucks responded to the recent commentary from the media and Pies fans around exposing more of the club’s younger players to AFL level sooner rather than later.

• "We’re trying to reward good form, and clearly our patchy form up top is providing opportunity for those coming from underneath.
• “We’re all in the caper of trying to win games of footy…we haven’t selected teams not to win.”
• “If they’re [the younger players] are ready to play, they’ll play, and Fin has deserved his opportunity just like Ollie [Henry] and Beau [Mccreery] did.”
• “The expectation to just throw the kids in isn’t ideal, especially considering they haven’t played a lot of footy in the last 12-18 months.”
• “We want to win now and win later.”

The VFL season starts this weekend. In the final practice match against Geelong, the Pies played a very young team against what was a highly experienced Cats VFL side.

• “Obviously there’s been a bit of commentary about our list dynamic…our VFL squad that played Geelong on the weekend had a total of 30 games of AFL experience and had about 800 games of experience against them.”
• “When you’ve got established and experienced players against you, the feedback is that they relish the experience and opportunity to test themselves…Fin was one to stand up.”

After a disappointing performance against GWS on Saturday night, Bucks identified the ability to compete and win the contested battles as a key area of improvement going forward.

• “We haven’t displayed the winning intent and edge lately.”
• “We were patchy against GWS, we had good moments but had bad ones too…in the end you look at the win or loss and whether you’re executing in the key moments.”
• “It’s an attitude as much as it is an action, we’ve seen ebbs and flows in that.”

Collingwood will be hoping for a performance similar to last year’s elimination final when they come up against West Coast and a packed out Optus Stadium this week.

• “We’re coming up against strong opposition on their home deck…last year was last year, this is a whole new ball game…but history can often be a guide as to what to expect.”
• “We have recent strong contested battles against the Eagles, we have fairly good memories of the elimination final and we’d love to replicate that."

In his post-game press conference on Saturday night, Bucks mentioned the need for a change in game plan and method leading into the Eagles match.

• “Game plan and method change constantly, West Coast are very safe in their back third and they kick/mark a lot…we are trying to adapt consistently to what the game is showing us.”

A focus point for the Pies this round will be increasing the intensity around the ball in the forward half. With field territory lacking in recent matches, Bucks is putting the onus on the players to ensure the ball is locked down forward for longer periods of time.

Collingwood is well aware of the presence of elite Eagles ruckman Nic Natanui as his match-up with Pies’ ruckman Brodie Grundy will go a long way to determining the outcome of Friday night’s match.

• “Our expectations are for him [Grundy] to play his role.”
• “Be a big man in the big moments…we back him, he’s a really important player for us.”
• “It’s becoming increasingly clear that his form is a big part of our winning”.
• “Blunting ‘Nic Nat’ in the centre bounce is half the battle. We’re giving up too many scores from centre bounce…they kicked 5 goals from centre bounces in the elimination final last year.”

In off-field news, Collingwood wants to congratulate Will Hoskin-Elliott and his wife Kirstie on the birth of their second child this morning. Hoskin-Elliott was not present at training this morning, but Bucks assured the media that he is available for selection this weekend.