Pies keen to unleash Shaw

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said there will be a focus on isolating playmaker Heath Shaw and captain Nick Maxwell in Saturday night's clash against Geelong.

Maxwell and Shaw were virtually tagged in Collingwood's surprise 23-point loss to Carlton on Friday night, but Buckley backed the duo to counter the tactic.

"It's not something that they haven't dealt with in the past. It's not something that clubs haven't tried to do in the past. Sometimes it's more effective than others," Buckley said.

"A lot more sides are playing more forward of the ball than they were in the last couple of seasons.

"The whole idea is to prevent dangerous defenders, who have dominated the competition for the last four or five years, being able to have time and space to attack.

"They're defenders by name only. They really are quarterbacks and guys that set up the play.

"We're going to encounter that this week with guys like Corey Enright, Andrew Mackie and Matthew Scarlett, who are very dangerous at rebounding and creating attacks from the back half."

Buckley admitted the Magpies were outmuscled against the Blues at the MCG.

"There's no doubt we lost the physical battle against Carlton. Their intensity, endeavour and verve around the contest was greater than ours," he said.

"Our effort, endeavour and commitment to the contest across the majority of the year has been excellent. But I thought we were five to 10 percent off that on Friday.

"We weren't able to arrest control of the midfield and that puts your defence under a little bit of pressure and it doesn't give as much supply to your forwards."

Collingwood are locked in a battle with four teams for top spot, but Buckley insists there remains room for improvement.

"We weren't a perfect team a month ago and we're definitely not a perfect team now," he said.

"We won't get everything solved or fixed this week, but we'll endeavour to prepare as well as we possibly can and see where we get to."