Mason Cox didn't enjoy a great start to the AFL season but Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley still has to figure out how to fill the seven-foot hole the American's suspension has left in his attack.
The Pies spent all summer working on a forward structure with Cox as a focal point but he will miss Saturday's clash against Greater Western Sydney at the MCG as he serves a one-game ban.
"We'll probably be forced to go a bit smaller," assistant coach Brenton Sanderson told AAP.
"No one can replace Mason Cox because he's seven-foot tall but we feel like we can put some guys in there who can still have an impact in the air and still be valuable for us on the ground.
"It always hurts to lose big players because you look at the depth charts of all teams and not many have got many spare big men."
Cox, who was suspended for striking Hawthorn's Daniel Howe in last week's loss, departed the side along with Josh Smith, who suffered a hamstring injury.
Callum Brown and Matthew Scharenberg were called up for their first games of the season.
The Giants replaced Aidan Corr with Tom Scully, as Leon Cameron's men look to build on their 82-point smashing of the Western Bulldogs.
The knives were out for Collingwood after their 34-point loss to the Hawks, with much criticism levelled at their poor disposal skills.
"Hawthorn definitely deserved to win but we just made some uncharacteristic mistakes for us," Sanderson said.
"Our fundamental skill errors really hurt us ... there were times where you'd scratch your head as a coach and say 'That's just not us'.
"So we just have to go out and play with a lot more creative freedom to try to show the footy world that that wasn't the Collingwood side that they'll see in 2018 ... that it was just a one-off."
The Giants' only win over the Pies in six meetings was in round eight last year when Steve Johnson booted the winner in a thriller at Spotless Stadium.
GWS have played at the MCG 12 times since entering the competition, managing just one win against Melbourne in 2014.
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