COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley says while the Magpies could have taken "a bigger step" in 2015, he's been able to learn which players are capable of standing up on the AFL stage throughout their up and down season.
The Pies lost their seventh contest by three goals or less on Sunday when they went down to Essendon by three points at the MCG.
It was an inexperienced Collingwood side, with Alan Toovey's status as the substitute meaning the starting 21 was the youngest line-up the Pies have produced this year.
Buckley said while it was disappointing they were unable to close out so many tight contests, overall they'd found "more pieces of the puzzle" when looking ahead to the future.
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"I think in the end '15 was always a step towards where we wanted to get to, it was always going to be – how big a step that was, was going to be our challenge," Buckley said.
"We could have taken a bigger step, there's no doubt, but I think we've learned about the players who can and who can't, about our capacity and the fact we've competed against the best sides but we just haven't been able to get over the top of them.
"Where we settle in the ladder for 2015 will be an accurate reflection, and it's a pretty competitive environment.
"On any given day, you need to be at your best to win them and we've shown our best is good enough to win them and we need to be able to produce it consistently, and that's going to be the challenge through the next couple of season."
Buckley believes the abolishment of the sub rule and reduction of interchange cap to 90 rotations a game will have a "significant impact" on personnel and strategy employed for games.
The Pies will look at how best to attack those changes over the off-season, while looking to stock up on players who can help connect their offence and defence, with their "grunt" in good shape.
WACTH: Nathan Buckley's full post-match medai conference
They've been linked heavily to Adam Treloar and James Aish, with Buckley expecting the club to be aggressive in securing such talent to increase their depth.
"The large part of our improvement is going to come from within the playing list," he said.
"We've invested heavily in youth in the last two or three drafts but what the last 12 months has given us is a greater understanding of our depths in certain areas, and maybe some areas we need to be stronger.
"We'll keep chasing players we think are going to make us better in the long term and fit the profile we're looking at, which is to be competitive from next year for the next five, six.
"Most of our recruiting drives will be around that."
First though, they need to work on securing the signatures of young guns Matthew Scharenberg and Nathan Freeman, who are coming out of their initial two-year draftee contracts.
Buckley said the only concern was that "they haven't signed yet" but felt the signs were positive.
"All indications are really strong they're keen to remain at the club," he said.
"It's just a matter of coming to the right number."
