WEST Coast has not beaten Collingwood in Melbourne since 2003, but the Eagles now have the maturity to win anywhere, according to midfielder Chris Masten says.
Rhyce Shaw is the only active player left from the 44 who played in that 2003 clash in round eight, and he hasn't represented Collingwood since 2008. Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, assistant coach Scott Burns and Eagles assistant Dean Cox all played in that game.
Collingwood has beaten West Coast 11 straight times in Melbourne since then, three of those at Etihad Stadium, but travelling holds no fears for this current Eagles group, which has won eight of their past 11 on the road.
Two of those losses have come at Etihad Stadium, but they were by a combined total of 13 points against the Western Bulldogs in round one this year and against Essendon in round 21 last season.
Masten told AFL.com.au on Friday that the Eagles had battled against Collingwood in Melbourne in the recent past, but they hold no fears this week.
"A lot of the times early on, especially when we were playing some finals footy in 2011-12, they had the wood over us," Masten said.
"There were a couple of times at the MCG and one of them might have been a final, where we thought we almost had them and the class of their midfield took it away from us.
"(Dane) Swan, (Scott) Pendlebury, Luke Ball was out there, and (Steele) Sidebottom, so a lot of them are still running around.
"We're the same players, but I think we've matured. We were boys playing a man's game there for a little while.
"We're not where we need to be and we've still got a heap to improve on, but we're on the way there."
Eagles coach Adam Simpson said the side's recent record against Collingwood in Melbourne was irrelevant.
"We don't look at that at all," Simpson said on Thursday.
"We haven't played finals too often for the last five years so I'm anticipating that a lot of teams that we play at the top end of the ladder, there's going to be some sort of stat that looks bad. We're not particularly worried about the past."
The Eagles shortened the length of Domain Stadium by 15 metres at their main training session on Wednesday to prepare for the smaller dimensions of Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
West Coast lost a tight game to Collingwood at the MCG last year, but Simpson said playing the Magpies at Etihad was a slightly different prospect.
"We like playing at the ground," Simpson said.
"I don't think we worry about our recent form or past form there, we're not intimidated by the ground.
"Collingwood at Etihad is a little bit different. We're used to playing them at the MCG and I am sure they are as well.
"It's a quick deck. It's cold in Melbourne at the moment, so playing under the roof you're guaranteeing what the conditions are going to be.
"So we plan for it and trained for it here. We reduced the length of the ground. The weather has been pretty good over (in Perth). So I like to think we have adapted to it."
