COLLINGWOOD'S 20-point win over Essendon on Anzac Day will foster belief in the team's direction, according to coach Nathan Buckley.
With no passengers in the line-up, the Magpies built their win on tackling and closing down the opposition's space to restrict the Bombers to just 49 points, their lowest score since 2010.
Buckley said every player contributed and he would be nit-picking if he focused on much else but the excellent effort of each player.
He said it was a victory won on the ground rather than from the coach's box.
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"Days like today help with our belief and the way we go about it, why we do it and how we do it," Buckley said.
"It doesn't really matter who it is against or where it is, the coach's tactics look pretty good when the players execute them and the effort is there."
Commitment rather than class underpinned the win.
Aside from Paul Seedsman's Anzac Day Medal-winning effort, there were countless examples of Magpies who covered for teammates, created contests when they looked to be at a disadvantage or chased down Essendon runners.
Key defender Jack Frost ran off his direct opponent to spoil free Essendon players on numerous occasions.
Skipper Scott Pendlebury sat under high kicks to keep the ball inside 50.
Brownlow Medallist Dane Swan chased like a man who only had winning on his mind.
Apart from a 10-minute patch in the second quarter, such effort led to turnovers as the Magpies won both the inside 50s (61-57) and contested ball (165-161).
"That effort comes from within them and a need and a want to stand up for their teammates as much as anyone and to take their chances," Buckley said.
Click here to watch Nathan Buckley's full post-match media conference
Impressed with individuals such as Jack Crisp who quelled Jobe Watson and then, to steal Adelaide coach Phil Walsh's term, 'cooled' Dyson Heppell when he began to look dangerous, Buckley said his performance simply reflected the team's approach.
"[He's] just a young bloke having a crack," Buckley said.
But what he has quickly become is someone the coach can trust when he needs to slow down an opposition playmaker as he showed when moved on to Heppell.
"To have the confidence in Jack to do that is a big part of us," Buckley said.
Not that anyone is getting comfortable at Collingwood.
Buckley knows much improvement is required with former Collingwood premiership coach Mick Malthouse's record-breaking match at the MCG the Magpies' next assignment.
Buckley said Malthouse deserves the praise he will get in the coming week but he is confident the event will not distract the Magpies' focus.
"There are always external hooks that we look to but in the end we want to play our footy and take the next test and Carlton will be a test," Buckley said.
