RECALLING three players for their first matches since surgery in a final has "some form of question mark" around it, Nathan Buckley concedes, but the Collingwood coach says he is rock-solid in his belief the returning trio can deliver.

Defenders Tyson Goldsack and Jeremy Howe, as well as star midfielder Adam Treloar, all return to face West Coast in Saturday night's qualifying final at Optus Stadium.

Goldsack required a left knee reconstruction in March and has played two VFL games, Howe had a thigh drained for what the club said was a corkie, and Treloar suffered a rare double hamstring injury against Carlton in round 14, with his left hamstring tendon operated on.

The trio have been brought back in for the omitted Jack Madgen, Adam Oxley and Nathan Murphy, and were among a group of players inconvenienced by two separate flight delays on Thursday.

"We're picking our best 22, with the attributes that we think we need to beat the opposition we're coming up against," Buckley told reporters at Melbourne Airport on Friday morning.

"I suppose given that Tyson hasn't played for a while, 'Ads' has missed a bit of footy and 'Howie' missed the last five or six weeks, there's some form of question mark in regard to that. But if you had all the information and seen the block of training that these guys have put in, all three of them, you wouldn't be concerned about the capacity to do what they do.

"Finals intensity goes up, but that will be a test for all 44 players."

Goldsack, 31, had just two disposals in the VFL last Sunday against Essendon, but looked good in the contest.

"We're coming up against a side that has some real strength in the air. We've existed with a back six with some aerial capabilities but 'Goldy' definitely strengthens that. So does 'Howie'," Buckley said.

Despite not having played in more than two months, Treloar will do what he has always done.

"You'll see him mainly through the midfield and he'll go forward as well. The roles that he was playing before he was injured will be the roles that he'll play now," Buckley said.

The Magpies need to reverse their 1-7 record against fellow top-eight sides this season, while the Eagles are 10-0 when Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling are in their team.

"We're not under any illusions about their capacity in the front half. We've got to be able to match that," Buckley said.

"Part of that is not letting the ball get down there as often, winning clearance and defending the ground well."

Collingwood's ruck advantage seems formidable, with Brodie Grundy going up against Scott Lycett, although Buckley cautioned making that assumption, drawing back to his side's round 17 loss to West Coast.

"If I was Adam Simpson, I'd be going 'Nic Nat played the first half and the scores was level, and he didn't play the second half and we won that by six goals'," Buckley said.

"Lycett played a pretty important role in that in the second half, so he'd be relatively confident I'd have thought coming in."

The Pies haven't been on the September stage since 2013, but Buckley thinks they will be ready.

"It is a final. That's a fact, but the other fact is the trend of what finals games ask for and the fact is that the type of footy that is played, and we saw it last night (Richmond v Hawthorn) straight away, is a brand that comes toward the type of footy that we play," Buckley said.

"Finals holds no fears for our group, whether they've played them (finals) or they haven't.

"We've played a finals-like brand of footy for a whole season, so we're pretty confident that our boys will be able to handle that."