Watch Heath Shaw's post-match interview

With both sides notching up over 55 inside 50s for the match, it took a well-balanced Collingwood defence unit to rebound the ball and direct play back inside its forward arc, which was key to the 36-point win over the Western Bulldogs; 19.15 (129) to 13.15 (93).?

The Magpies game plan from defence relied on running the ball through the middle of the ground to hit up their forwards close to goal.

Defender Heath Shaw led the way from the back with 11 rebound 50s, six more than the next highest on either side (Sharrod Wellingham).

Watch the the boys sing the team song after the win

“I think our backline group is pretty tight”, Shaw told CTV after the match.

“We have definitely worked on a bit of offense and our transitions from backline to the forward line.

“We had the likes of Jonno (Ben Johnson), Harry O’Brien, Maxy (Nick Maxwell) and even (Simon) Presti and we were able to get those guys and run it forward and try to break the lines of the Bulldogs.”

Watch the the boys sing the team song after the win

Shaw credited the side’s 36-point win with the evenness of each divisions group of players.?

“It was a really good game.  It was a very even spread from forwards to midfielders to backs.  A great start to the year.”

Equally as impressive from the Magpie camp was the ability for the playing group to hold off a Bulldog surge, which saw them kick six goals to two in the second term.

“We grew a lot of confidence after that first half even though we let the Bulldogs into the game.  Our confidence enabled us to stick to our structures and fortunately we managed to do that.

“I think in that second quarter a lot of our mistakes and turnovers ended up in goals so we tried to slow the game down and make sure we were more precise going forward.” 

Collingwood will look to maintain its momentum next Saturday afternoon against Melbourne at the MCG.

“They are a developing side.  We will do our homework on them and we are really looking at making it two from two next Saturday. 

“It will be another challenge for us and we will try to keep our momentum and our game going forward.”