Buckley acknowledged the Pies haven't played their best football since their round 13 loss to the Western Bulldogs, and described their worst as "barely competitive".
He said there were plenty of elements – contest, ball movement and defence – that were falling down in their game, while getting their endeavour right was a priority.
Dane Swan cleared to play against Lions
Buckley said the challenge of putting Sunday's disastrous loss to West Coast behind them and turning things around would leave the leaders in good stead.
"We've got a really young leadership group that are being tested now unlike ever before – Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Beams, Toovey, Goldsack," Buckley said on Tuesday.
"They've been involved in a Collingwood that hasn't been in this position for their entire career basically.
"They're being tested and that's an opportunity for growth for us.
"The leaders have put the heat on themselves and on their teammates.
"We're still in the hunt. There's five teams competing for two spots, pretty much – two above us and two below us.
"West Coast and Richmond are on a run and we had our run earlier in the year, which has qualified us in the position we're in at the moment.
"We just need to perform."
Collingwood's inconsistency this season has contributed to players being called on to assume more responsibility.
Buckley said there was "opportunity" in the situation and it was more important to focus on that rather than what had already transpired.
"We've got an element of existing senior talent that are now being asked to take up more senior leadership roles," he said.
"Bally and Swanny have been out for a couple of weeks, Maxy's retired, Browny's been out the whole year, basically, Reidy up until a couple of weeks ago.
"We've got guys who have had to stand up and do it.
"We could get caught up in what we haven't done in the last nine weeks – if we wanted to look back, we're not going to get anywhere near of what we're capable of.
"We've taken the lessons out of the weekend – it was poor – but we're really focused on Brisbane, getting back on the 'G and playing the footy we're capable of."
Buckley said he believed the Pies performed "above expectations" earlier in the season, although added they always believed they were capable of the type of football they played.
He said it was his belief in the coaching staff that made it possible for things to turn around again.
Dane Swan and Ben Sinclair are expected to be available against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night.
Luke Ball had 27 touches in his second VFL game and could be recalled but a decision is yet to be made on the 30-year-old's future beyond this year.
"I've had a few chats with Bally but we've been focused on getting the best out of himself this year, and his last five or six weeks have been pretty disappointing for him," Buckley said.
"He's trying to get his body up to speed to be able to come in and be able to play the way he wants to play and we want him to play at AFL level.
"We'll have a look at how he gets through this week and anything beyond this year we'll deal with at the end of the year."
Buckley said Swan was a "really good snapshot of where we're at" after a "poor year by his standards" in terms of his body and form.
But he backed the 2011 Brownlow medallist to return refreshed with the season alive for both him and the team.
