COLLINGWOOD may have already put in one of the performances of the season, dethroning Richmond in stunning fashion in a preliminary final, but captain Scott Pendlebury says his team can lift another notch in the Grand Final.
The Magpies blew Richmond off the MCG with a barnstorming first half on Friday night, kicking 10 goals and restricting the Tigers to just two, but Pendlebury said there was still plenty of energy left for a repeat performance.
"The prelim is such a big win every time you play in one," he told reporters on Saturday.
"I've been fortunate enough to play in a few wins in a prelim and they're such a big win because they're brutal games of football. West Coast-Melbourne today will be a brutal game of football, and whoever [wins] earns the right to get to the Grand Final.
"There's no doubt in my mind there's another effort in us, and that wasn't our Grand Final last night."
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High-flying intercept defender Jeremy Howe left the field in the third term with an ankle injury suffered during a run-down tackle from Tigers speedster Daniel Rioli. He returned late in the match but was hampered.
"I've seen him (Howe) in [the club] today, he seems all right," Pendlebury said.
"Prelims are pretty brutal games of football and everyone cops a knock, but he came back on and played an important role in those last 10 minutes."
The Collingwood skipper was full of praise for Richmond counterpart Trent Cotchin and his team, revealing the Tigers players offered support immediately after the game.
"It's a credit to their football club how they handled that. They offered us some advice as players to just enjoy the week and I thought that was unbelievable to be in that situation," Pendlebury said.
"They would have been heartbroken, but to still … offer us some support was unbelievable. After the game, the Richmond guys said, 'Enjoy the week, embrace it, all the best'.
"They had every right to be dirty and go back into themselves, but 'Cotch', 'Dimma' and the Richmond Football Club should be so proud of that. We've got 17 guys who have never been in it, they were probably in a similar position last year. They offered us some support which we really appreciate."
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Even Pendlebury's wife Alex didn't quite believe the Magpies were capable of pulling off the win.
"'Bucks' said everyone last night thought we were a chance, but you can't ever pick against Richmond," she said.
"Even my wife said, 'It's going to be a tough one tonight, you can't pick against Richmond', and I said, 'You are, because you're my wife, you're going for Collingwood'," he said with a laugh.
"Everyone thought we could but until you actually do it against Richmond, it's a different story. I was really proud of the way we played."
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The remainder of Collingwood's squad who didn't play on Friday night took part in a strenuous training session on Saturday morning.
Injury-prone duo Darcy Moore and Ben Reid trained fully, alternating between forward and defence during match simulation in a seven-a-side affair.
Moore stayed on the park longer than his teammates, taking part in some searching leads and chases with the help of some assistant coaches.
