COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley is comfortable with the approach the Magpies took during the NAB AFL Trade Period as he enters a make-or-break season.

He told AFL.com.au that recruiting mature-aged free agents was always on Collingwood's agenda, irrespective of who was heading up the football department at the time. 

The Magpies secured 31-year-old North Melbourne midfielder Daniel Wells and 28-year-old Docker Chris Mayne, offering long-term contracts to the free agents.

Melbourne defender Lynden Dunn and young Giants forward Will Hoskin-Elliott also joined the club.

The Magpies were also temporarily linked with Lions midfielder Tom Rockliff and considered recruiting Tigers ruckman Ivan Maric.

"We always knew that we were going to get to the point where we needed to bring in a couple of players that we thought were going to help round out the balance of our list," Buckley said.

During a busy period, the Magpies also traded out Travis Cloke to the Western Bulldogs, Marley Williams to North Melbourne, Jarrod Witts to Gold Coast, Jack Frost to the Brisbane Lions and were unable to offer Nathan Brown a contract when the free agency option he looked set to explore fell through, with the premiership defender eventually joining St Kilda. 

Eight players from Collingwood's round one team in 2016 are no longer on the list. 

The trades occurred during Graeme Allan's short period as head of the football department, a stint that ended when the AFL suspended him for his role in the Lachie Whitfield affair while football manager at Greater Western Sydney.

However, Buckley said the approach during the trade period was consistent with the club's philosophy throughout 2016. 

"Everyone can have their opinion now on what the philosophy was, why the decisions were made, how they were made, who they were made by. You can analyse every club in that regard," Buckley said. 

"The fact we had change at the top of the footy department over the off-season probably lends itself to those questions a little bit but the philosophy remained fairly consistent.

"We are happy to be judged on the outcome rather than the supposition." 

He said Mayne's experience would allow him to organise the forward 50, which made him an attractive proposition for the Magpies.

"We have not been able to have a forward line leader as such, someone who has really stood up and dragged them together consistently," Buckley said.

According to Buckley, Wells' ability to hit targets inside 50 made him a key part of the puzzle and he argued that the perception Collingwood's defence had been weakened during the trade period was incorrect.