DESPITE a combined 67 disposals, and six goal assists from star Collingwood pair Nick Daicos and Scott Pendlebury, St Kilda coach Ross Lyon wasn't willing to focus on the individuals doing the damage in his side's 12-point Opening Round loss on Sunday evening.

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"In hindsight (Daicos) had 41, but momentum, it's interesting. We did send someone to him for a little bit," Lyon said post-match.

"I'm impulsive, and I watch the best, like (it's) good enough for Geelong to tag. So, look, (we were) a bit more system tonight, back our group in … we sent someone to him for a little bit, but it was more being accountable. I thought (Hugo) Garcia did that really well. He went from 10 to five, and then how many of them were lateral, uncontested marks, I'm not too sure."

Collingwood champion Pendlebury was managed through the opening half of the game, but with few minutes he was still able to have maximum impact. To half-time he had recorded nine disposals and three goal assists, with his neat handballing in the forward 50 a difference-maker for the victors.

Pendlebury finished the game with 26 disposals and a game-high five goal assists.

"He didn't have it a heap, did he?" Lyon said when asked about Pendlebury's impact.

"We thought his touches were quality, 400 games, he's composed, he looked composed … we didn't talk about him at half time."

For Collingwood coach Craig McRae, the removal of the substitute rule and expansion to five on the bench – while maintaining the same cap on rotations – meant the chance to limit Pendlebury's minutes allowed him to ease into season No.21.

The plan – crafted by high performance manager Jarrod Wade in partnership with McRae – was to get Pendlebury on for limited minutes in the opening two quarters, to allow for more impact in the second half.

Another specific plan heading into the match-up was to send Harry Perryman to St Kilda's reigning best and fairest winner Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera. While not a tight tag akin to the work Saint Marcus Windhager has done on Nick Daicos in the past, Perryman went everywhere Wanganeen-Milera did.

"I went to 'Pez' (Perryman) on Wednesday, and the leadership group really pushed it … the leaders really wanted to set a bit of a target and go after (Wanganeen-Milera) … He was pretty excited about doing the job," McRae said.

While Wanganeen-Milera still had 19 disposals and kicked a crowd-lifting goal, his impact was dulled, with credit going to Perryman.

Flexibility is a focus for the Pies this year – as evidenced by the shifts made through Pendlebury's managed minutes, and Perryman's need to follow Wanganeen-Milera across the field.

The club's capacity to compete this year has been questioned due to an ageing list profile, but the desire to be adaptable was evident in Sunday's win.

"I know next week we'll be older because it's seven days. We just love what we've got, and our experience is enormous. It is. But our list is different … We don't have Mason (Cox), and Tom Mitchell, and Oleg Markov, and Will Hoskin-Elliott, we're different," McRae said.

"We're going to need our whole list, but we’ve got a team out there that knows what to do."