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Essendon's streak of high-scoring AFL wins has Collingwood pondering ways to apply the brakes in their Anzac Day game.
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley is banking on old-fashioned contested grit to help stop free-scoring Essendon from taking the AFL honours on Anzac Day.
The Bombers have been back to their freewheeling best over the past three rounds, averaging 20 goals in wins over Melbourne, Brisbane and North Melbourne.
With Dylan Shiel, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Orazio Fantasia all providing plenty of spark, Essendon's ability to move the ball at speed out of their backline has driven heavy scoring runs in each of their victories.
The Magpies are hardly lacking for offensive weapons themselves but Buckley is wary of allowing his men to be drawn into a shootout.
Buckley will consider recalling tough utility Levi Greenwood to replace James Aish, who is in doubt after being concussed during last week's win over Brisbane.
While he has not been ruled out, Aish failed to train on Tuesday.
The Pies are adamant Greenwood won't always be used as a tagger when he plays but Essendon's midfield weaponry could demand a run-with role.
"They're scoring very heavily," Buckley said of Essendon on Tuesday.
"They've been able to get their ball movement going and they've done it off the back of good pressure, clean handling and executing the basics well.
"It can become a momentum game (because) if you're just trying to stem the bleeding of their offence, you might not actually be pushing back hard enough on the offence of your own.
"The balance is important ... we don't go in with any specific plans to make it a dour affair but we do want to enforce and impose ourselves on the contest."
Buckley identified Isaac Quaynor and Rupert Wills, and veteran tall Ben Reid, as other players gunning for senior selection.
Young midfielder Brayden Sier's wait for an AFL return after playing in last year's grand final will continue after he tore a tendon in his foot.
Collingwood dismantled finals hopefuls Brisbane last week in their best performance of 2019 but Buckley said there was still plenty of room for improvement.
"A one-game sample is not enough to get truly excited by," he said.
"We believe that we've shown steady growth over the season to date ... we understand that we're probably going to be picked apart a little bit more and have been analysed over the off-season, having played deep into the finals.
"We're still getting our heads around that."
