COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley is hopeful the Magpies' poor ball use on Saturday night will not become a trend that sets in for a second straight season.
The Pies had a disposal efficiency of 69 per cent in their 27-point loss to Adelaide, but it was their erratic kicking in particular that took the game out of their grasp in the first half.
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Buckley's team ranked last in the AFL for kicking efficiency last season (62.6 per cent) and there were repeated examples of the Magpies handing the ball back to their opponents under the Etihad Stadium roof.
Asked if Saturday night's performance was an accurate reflection of his players' ability or a one-off, the coach was hopeful it was the latter.
"That's the age-old [question] isn't it? I'd like to suggest it's on the day," Buckley said.
"But if it happens too consistently, then it comes back on the basics of the game.
WATCH: Nathan Buckley's full post-match press conference
"As the game wore on we put some good passages together, but early in the game everything was so hard for us."
Some of the Magpies' main ball-winners were major culprits on Saturday night, with Dane Swan (56 per cent), Taylor Adams (48 per cent) and Tom Langdon (56 per cent) all using the ball inefficiently.
Scott Pendlebury (78 per cent) and Adam Oxley (79 per cent) often fought a lone hand in the midfield.
"I thought we tried to find extra handballs, especially early when the game was hot and we should have trusted our forwards to be in position and gone forward," Buckley said.
"Then when we did have a yard or two of space that we'd created, the next position that would have put us out into more space we didn't hit often enough.
"We don't think we played anywhere near our best, we don't think we did the basics well enough to give ourselves a chance for our game style to stand up."
Buckley praised the Crows' disciplined game style under new coach Phil Walsh, with the visitors putting relentless pressure on the Magpies when they were in possession.
"For the most part they made it hard for us to get through and we felt that," he said.
"They're playing some good footy and we spoke about it up in the box.
"We were off our best early, but how much of that is attributed to them and how much is us? I think it's too early in the season to say."
With Steele Sidebottom and Levi Greenwood sidelined, the Magpies used Jamie Elliott and Marley Williams through the midfield at times, as well as inclusion Tim Broomhead.
Buckley said he would continue to rotate players through the midfield, with Greenwood (ankle) and Sidebottom (thumb) both facing long stints on the sidelines.
"It gives us an opportunity to play some of our young players through there that have earned those opportunities through their VFL form and through their preparation," he said.
"I'm excited by that possibility and that opportunity, but there's going to be some ups and down along the way."
Defender Ben Sinclair faces three weeks on the sidelines after suffering another hamstring injury, which forced him to be substituted in the first quarter.
