HAVING sparked Collingwood to a stirring win over North Melbourne, five-goal hero Jamie Elliott isn't about to rest on his laurels.
Why? Because despite booting four of the Pies' 10 unanswered goals immediately after half-time – and capping his day with a fifth after the siren – Elliott knows his game could have been even better had he played at that level for more than a half.
Despite the match-winning performance, Elliott said after the match that he was focused on rectifying his slow starts.
"I think this year especially, I've worked really hard on just staying in the moment," Elliott told AFL.com.au.
"The first half, I couldn't control that, but after half-time I just had to relax and calm myself. I knew it was going to happen for me, I just had to wait and be patient but also be more proactive than reactive and not wait for it to happen.
"I think I'm setting a trend now in the second half. Hopefully I can have more impact in the first half going forward but I'll look at that during the week."
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Elliott's thoughts on his game – which included two score assists, 18 disposals and four inside 50s – were echoed by coach Nathan Buckley.
"You can look at it either way you like," Buckley said of Elliott's performance.
"He'll be focused on how can I get into the game, how can I jump into the game earlier. We'll keep reminding him about resilience and being able to stick it out and be able to play the game out because it goes for four quarters."
Elliott said his performance was made easier due to the slick delivery from Collingwood midfielders Dane Swan, Taylor Adams, Scott Pendlebury and Jack Crisp.
The Pies now sit 6-3 after nine rounds and despite plenty of pre-season doubters, Elliott said the players believed they were finals contenders.
"At the start of the year we didn't really know where we were as a club, position-wise, because we had so many people rolling over and coming in.
"We're fortunate enough that Crispy has come in and played a massive role. Varcoe is having a massive year, and when Levi Greenwood is up and going we will be an even better team.
"We're definitely feeling like we're a top-eight side now but we can't get ahead of ourselves."
