Magpie Steele Sidebottom told Collingwoodfc.com.au after the win that the playing group discussed the need to contribute in a complete performance two weeks ahead of the finals.
“It was important for us to put in an even effort for the entire game tonight,” Sidebottom told Collingwoodfc.com.au in the rooms after the win.
“We let ourselves down last week in the win over Brisbane and we wanted to fix that.
“With two rounds remaining before finals, it’s especially important to work as a unit for the entire game.”
Even without their best tackler Luke Ball (soreness), the Magpies still managed to dominate the tackle count laying 64 for the night, 20 more than their opponent.
Jarryd Blair led the way with nine tackles with only Alan Didak and Tom Young (substitute) not registering a statistic in the category.
“Tackling was an area we felt we dropped off in last week so there was some discussion about making it a priority tonight.
“Mick spoke to us after the game and said he was pleased with the effort we put in.
“We headed into this match more focused on what we were going to do than what they were planning on doing.
“It was a good win.”
