NATHAN Buckley has called on Collingwood's young guns to keep asking difficult questions of the match committee after strong efforts from Jordan De Goey and Patrick Karnezis helped propel the Pies to a 44-point NAB Challenge win over Hawthorn on Thursday night.
De Goey, the fifth pick in last year's draft, and former Brisbane Lion Karnezis were among a band of impressive new faces in the Pies' strong triumph.
Star recruits Travis Varcoe and Levi Greenwood were typically influential, while Tim Broomhead, Josh Thomas and Corey Gault (two goals) stood up in the first hit-out of the season.
"There's quite a few players out there tonight who have asked questions of the match committee," Buckley said.
"It will be a good problem to have in the short-term and clearly we want to see that continue throughout the year."
The Pies were without leaders Scott Pendlebury, Dane Swan and Travis Cloke but had solid contributors across the ground.
Steele Sidebottom (23 disposals), Taylor Adams (23) and Tom Langdon (20) racked up plenty of the ball, while De Goey's hardness at the contest and composure stood out.
"He's an exciting talent. He's very clean with the footy. I think his defensive skills in particular in tight and his ability to win his own football excite us," Buckley said.
"He's worked pretty hard, done a fair volume during the pre-season. He doesn’t look like he's out of place and he looks like he can handle the speed of the game at this point and every opportunity thrown his way he's taken."
The Pies face Carlton on March 15 in Bendigo for their second pre-season match, with many of their stars – including Ben Reid – pushing for selection.
Cloke and Reid's return would significantly strengthen the Pies' tall department, although Jesse White (two goals), Brodie Grundy (one goal) and rookie Corey Gault performed strongly against the Hawks.
White has trimmed down this pre-season and appeared to enjoy playing as the focal point.
"Jesse's put a power of work through the pre-season, it's good validation for him. The test for him and for us is to be able to continue that through a long, arduous season," Buckley said.
Despite the defeat, stand-in Hawthorn coach Brett Ratten was pleased the young Hawks were tested in front of a large and vocal crowd.
The Hawks blooded five of their six draftees and Ratten singled out defender Daniel Howe – the club's first pick at 31 overall last draft – for special praise.
"I think they all had their little moments in the game where they got the footy," Ratten said.
"Howe going back third man and marking the footy was really encouraging and when you think that he could play with the likes of Birchall, Stratton and these types in a home and away game that would be a great experience for him.
"(The best lesson was) probably about what AFL demands of the players. You can't switch off for two seconds.
"You have to always be on your game and then the aspects of our game plan … especially when you're fatigued."
Jed Anderson (26 touches) was superb in his first match for nearly a year, while ruckman Ben McEvoy (two goals) provided a strong marking target in the absence of Jarryd Roughead.
"He created some really good drop-of-the-ball situations and if you put say Rioli and Puopolo and these blokes front and centre to that we might have got a couple more opportunities," Ratten said.
The Hawks are likely to welcome back a host of senior players for their next NAB Challenge match against North Melbourne on March 8 in Shepparton.
