Scott Pendlebury is bullish about the Pies in September. Source: Michael Klein / HeraldSun
GO back seven weeks and you might have wondered where our season was heading.
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We lost to Gold Coast in Round 17 and, the following week, led Greater Western Sydney by two points at three-quarter time.
If we thought we would give the finals a serious crack, we weren't playing like it.
While we had a better last term, beating the Giants by 40 points, there wasn't much air in the balloon for the first three quarters. It was time for a bit of a team talk.
We sat down with Ray McLean from Leading Teams and asked what we wanted to get out of the season.
We were a decent side that had been around the finals for a while, but had we fallen in a trap, expecting that it was all going to happen for us?
I thought we were all trying, but perhaps we weren't jelling as a team as well as in the past.
Were we all pulling in the one direction?
We could have looked for excuses out of our control or we could put it on each other and say "let's improve our attitude and our effort" and address training. So we did.
Since then, we've got hungry for the contest again. Training has improved out of sight and it's no coincidence our performance on the field has lifted markedly.
After the chat, we went in as underdogs against Essendon then Sydney the following week and beat them both.
We took it up to Hawthorn and were really happy with keeping West Coast to 39 points. Suddenly, it felt like the Collingwood of old was back.
What we have produced on and off the field in the past six weeks has convinced me we can win the premiership from outside the top four.
The footy we have played in the late part of the season shows our game stacks up.
What has helped is having more consistency in our side. Earlier in the year it felt like every week we were making three or four changes.
But with Dayne Beams and Lachie Keeffe back, our list is a lot healthier and we have developed greater understanding and confidence in some of the young guys.
I think when you are playing your first dozen or so games, you are just excited to be playing AFL. It's pretty special irrespective of whether you win or lose.
The younger guys are still learning what it takes to play consistent AFL footy.
They would have two good games in a row and then it would drop.
That was reflected in the team's form throughout the first half of the year.
But now a lot of the younger guys, such as Marley Williams, Brodie Grundy and Paul Seedsman, are a lot more in tune with what it takes to win.
Josh Thomas, for example, is much improved compared with what we saw in his debut against North Melbourne in Round 1.
In finals, the pressure and intensity go up, but the young guys need to know it's the little things that will make the difference for us. Doing what the team expects from each of our roles.
We are not looking for any individual heroics. It is not up to Dane Swan to get 40 touches or Travis Cloke to kick 10 goals. We have to spread the load, regardless of age.
It is a great achievement for the coaching development program that so many young players deserve their spots.
We are so excited about the talent in the team and how bright things are looking for the next few years.
It is not always easy, managing 44 players on a list, but "Bucks" has created an environment of equal opportunity for everyone.
Footy is a ruthless business. The boys love having Dids (Alan Didak) out there and Darren Jolly has been working hard at training and playing well in the VFL.
But it is every player's responsibility to execute the plan the coaches put in place.
In the past month, we've had 22 players putting into what we want to do and it has helped us produce our best footy of the year.
It's not for us to worry about who is there or who isn't in the team.
Back in 2010, if you told me at the start of the year Tarkyn Lockyer, Shane O'Bree or Paul Medhurst wouldn't have played in our premiership team, I wouldn't have believed you. But we brought new talent into the team throughout the season.
Like that year, there is a bit more of an unpredictable edge to the Magpies.
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