COLLINGWOOD'S 79-point demolition of Essendon is a sign the Magpies are closing in on their best form, and coach Nathan Buckley wants to use the dominant win as starting point to better things. 

The Pies started strongly against the Bombers, rushing to a 31-point lead by quarter-time and never looking back. 

The win gives them four from their past five starts and showed an example of their capabilities with finals only five weeks away.  

"Right now, we draw a line on the rest of our season. We can look at what we have or haven't done or what we may or may not have achieved," Buckley said afterwards. 

"We're 12 and six, we deserve to be where we are on the ladder right now, but it's time for us to stop talking about what we're capable of and just start displaying it.

"We see tonight as the beginning of that; our expectations are high internally but we need to back up the talk with performances and tonight was a good start."

The Pies won the tackle count 81 to 51 and put in what Buckley described as "a really strong, disciplined, four-quarter performance". 

He said his team did a lot of things well against an opponent that has been strong this year, with his players hitting benchmarks that have eluded them at times throughout the season. 

The challenges don't stop though, with the Pies to play the Sydney Swans at ANZ Stadium next Saturday night after losing to them by 47 points in round nine. 

"We're starting to put together a squad that's capable of filling voids when required and playing the type of footy we want to play," Buckley said. 

"We've given [ourselves] and our supporters a taste of what we're capable of and now the test is for us to come up against a really strong Sydney side who are the benchmark of the competition and test it against them."

Second-gamer Brodie Grundy's 19 hit-outs and 11 disposals has given the coaching staff something to think about when it comes to big man combinations. 

Darren Jolly and Ben Hudson played in the VFL on Sunday, and Jarrod Witts and Quinten Lynch – who had 21 touches against the Bombers – mean the Pies have the luxury of maintaining a "horses for courses" attitude with their talls. 

"If we feel a certain ruck set-up is going to benefit us against an opposition, we'll go for it," Buckley said. 

"When you've got a young bloke [Grundy], even though it's his second game, when he keeps standing up like that, possession is nine tenths and he's demanding it.

"As we get to the pointy end of the year, the competition for spots heats up even more."

Buckley also praised the game of Harry O'Brien, who had 27 touches, and didn't believe there was anything sinister in his heated exchanges with Brendon Goddard. 

Midfielder Dale Thomas wants to play in the VFL next weekend but Buckley said he still had a few boxes to tick before being confirmed as a starter.