Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says the Magpies must sharpen up after fadeout

COLLINGWOOD'S second half last night summed up its season with coach Nathan Buckley calling for a sharper focus from his players.

COLLINGWOOD'S second half last night summed up its season with coach Nathan Buckley calling for a sharper focus from his players.

The Pies dominated the Western Bulldogs early but only kicked four goals to seven after half-time to register an uninspiring 34-point victory.

Buckley spoke to his players after the game about having to lift their rating when they returned from next week's bye.

"Our first half was really good and our second half was a little bit disappointing so you look at the glass half-full and glass half-empty," he said.

"Generally, I'm a half-empty guy.

Pack bonds in Pie cause

"I was more philosophical (with the players). We're going into the bye, we're 8-4 and we have played some really solid footy yet we've only really put four quarters together maybe three or four times.

"We've had moments in games where our best has clearly been good enough to be more than competitive against the best.

"We've got the second half of the year to sharpen up and see more of the first and less of the second."

Buckley felt the unsettled nature of the team had played a part in the inconsistency and that he was looking forward to the return of some big names.

"Having eight blokes having 25 games or less in this side like we did tonight has an impact," he said.

"We'd like to get a little bit more stability in our 22 and we feel that that's not far away.

"At the same time we have exposed a lot of players to the level that can only help us, definitely in the long term and hopefully in the second half of the year."

The Pies lost Luke Ball (calf) before the game while his anointed replacement Alan Didak, who was dropped on Thursday night, also didn't come up because of soreness.

Both will be right after the break while ex-Hawk Clinton Young made his return in the VFL yesterday where Andrew Krakouer was one of the Pies' best.

Key midfielder Dayne Beams, who hasn't played a game this year because of a quad injury, has had a "breakthrough" according to Buckley and could be playing within three weeks.

Tyson Goldsack continues to struggle with a hip injury and is still 2-4 weeks away while key defender Lachlan Keefe (knee) also played in the VFL.