Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says the sky's the limit for Jordan De Goey after the reformed AFL bad boy booted five goals in the Magpies' 44-point win over Richmond at the MCG.
De Goey brought down a huge mark and converted several tough chances in the 17.8 (110) to 10.6 (66) win in front of 70,699 fans on Thursday night.
The performance continued the upward trajectory of the 23-year-old, who had copped a club suspension for lying about an injury and a drink-driving charge in recent years, but recovered to post a 48-goal campaign in 2018.
"He's still got so much experience to gain in the game," Buckley said.
"We're seeing him in a forward role at the moment and everyone expects that he will become a midfielder at some point but he's just so powerful and a very ballistic player.
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"He wins the ball in the air and on the ground and he knows where the goals are.
"He'll be as good as he wants to be really. It's a matter of how committed he stays to his footy.
"The sky's the limit."
Thursday night's win came on the heels of a round one loss to Geelong, which stung last year's beaten grand finalist into action.
De Goey capitalised on the work of Collingwood's superior midfield that monstered Richmond around the ball, winning the lopsided disposal count 467 to 300.
The Pies controlled the ball for the most part, taking a mammoth 174 marks to the Tigers' 78, in their first win of the season.
"We were all challenged after last week," Buckley said.
"The credit has to go to the players.
"It was a very good performance tonight ... a lot closer to what we'd like the game to look like and the scoreboard looked after itself."
Adam Treloar and Dayne Beams led the way with 39 and 36 possessions respectively, with Darcy Moore impressive at centre halfback.
