The Magpies extended their dominance over the Eagles in Melbourne that stretches back to 1995 with the eight-point victory that came after losing two defenders in the first half.
There were many elements of the win that Buckley wasn't happy with – 66 inside-50s to the Eagles, first-half goals from turnovers and a third-quarter discrepancy of eight in clearances.
While Buckley said it was pleasing they just "ground it out", they had to make sure they took plenty of belief out of it heading into the second half of the season.
"In the end, the numbers are less relevant when you've got enough of a group that believes, that wants to stay in the contest and has the ticker to stay involved and to work it through," Buckley said.
"There's a growing belief and solidarity in the group. There's a resilience that's building.
"We need to take advantage of that as the season progresses.
"But at the same time you don't want to get in the habit of having to dig yourself out of big holes."
The Pies' big forwards were again quiet with Travis Cloke failing to touch the ball for 56 minutes and Jesse White 72 minutes after kicking the first goal of the game.
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Buckley said Cloke was physically fine despite his lackluster form.
"He was part of a forward line that was actually pretty effective; we scored at 47 per cent, but we had 13 goal kickers to kick 17 goals," he said.
"That spread is what we are looking for, we don't really want to be relying on any one or another to have to kick a bag.
"His form is not at the level that he would expect and we would expect; he cops far too much focus.
"We have other players that need to be coming to the table [and] we will assess 'Clokey' the same way that we assess all of our players."
Former captain Nick Maxwell described the win as one of the best he'd been involved in and valued its worth to the young Pies as winning a final.
Buckley said the games of Alan Toovey and Tyson Goldsack following the loss of Nathan Brown and Jack Frost to injuries were significant while the win had "great merit" because it could have easily become a blow-out loss.
"I thought Toovey on [Jack] Darling - after being tested in that first quarter and a half was really strong, - and 'Goldy' undersized against Josh Kennedy," he said.
"Tommy Langdon stood up, Clinton Young came on and played particularly well in the second half, Marley Williams … [Alex Fasolo] lowered his colours but was able to go forward and have an impact.
"All you need is a contest, all you need is guys prepared to have a dip, and stay in the game.
"There are two ways of losing games; you can beat yourself or the opposition can beat you, and I think it was a little bit of both in the first half.
"The second half, it definitely wasn't us beating ourselves and that gave us a chance to win it."
Twitter: @AFL_JenPhelan
Buckley said Cloke was physically fine despite his lackluster form.
"He was part of a forward line that was actually pretty effective; we scored at 47 per cent, but we had 13 goal kickers to kick 17 goals," he said.
"That spread is what we are looking for, we don't really want to be relying on any one or another to have to kick a bag.
"His form is not at the level that he would expect and we would expect; he cops far too much focus.
"We have other players that need to be coming to the table [and] we will assess 'Clokey' the same way that we assess all of our players."
Former captain Nick Maxwell described the win as one of the best he'd been involved in and valued its worth to the young Pies as winning a final.
Buckley said the games of Alan Toovey and Tyson Goldsack following the loss of Nathan Brown and Jack Frost to injuries were significant while the win had "great merit" because it could have easily become a blow-out loss.
"I thought Toovey on [Jack] Darling - after being tested in that first quarter and a half was really strong, - and 'Goldy' undersized against Josh Kennedy," he said.
"Tommy Langdon stood up, Clinton Young came on and played particularly well in the second half, Marley Williams … [Alex Fasolo] lowered his colours but was able to go forward and have an impact.
"All you need is a contest, all you need is guys prepared to have a dip, and stay in the game.
"There are two ways of losing games; you can beat yourself or the opposition can beat you, and I think it was a little bit of both in the first half.
"The second half, it definitely wasn't us beating ourselves and that gave us a chance to win it."
Twitter: @AFL_JenPhelan
