Collingwood won't take a backward step when they face off against Hawthorn in Friday night's blockbuster at the MCG, Magpies coach Nathan Buckley says.
The Hawks have returned to their unsociable best over the past month, with coach Alastair Clarkson unabashedly keen for his players to push the envelope when it comes to physically intimidating the opposition.
Buckley's side may not have quite the same match-hardened experience as Hawthorn but that doesn't mean they're prepared to cop whatever the reigning premiers dish out.
"If you want to sit on your heels, back up against the ropes and just be passive and take what's coming there's only one outcome to that," Buckley told reporters on Wednesday.
"So we need to show an intent, we need to be aggressive and we need to dictate our terms and we plan to do that against any opposition."
Buckley is content with the way that his players have been able to physically impose themselves so far in a season where they've surprised many to sit just behind fourth-placed Hawthorn with an identical 8-4 record.
Clarkson's side have copped some criticism for occasionally sailing too close to the wind in terms of their physicality, but Buckley accepts it as part and parcel of playing the game well, as long as that aggression occurs in play.
"I love the niggle, I love the aggression in the game," he said.
"If it's a mental thing or a physical thing or some form of enforcing your will on the opposition ... I love it.
"The unsociable element is just saying that it's not supposed to be a comfortable place for the opposition to be when you go out and play."
Buckley was pleased with the attitude and intent of his players in last week's tight loss to ladder leaders Fremantle, dismissing queries over the fitness of stars Scott Pendlebury and Travis Cloke.
Brodie Grundy, Levi Greenwood and Darcy Moore are in the frame for selection but Ben Reid will miss with a corked calf and Tyson Goldsack is also out with a knee injury.
Buckley is yet to coach his side to a win against the Hawks, with the Pies looking to snap a seven-game losing streak, but he said that record as irrelevant ahead of the tantalising encounter.
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