GOLD Coast plans on running Collingwood off its legs on Saturday, with coach Guy McKenna saying the Suns would test the vaunted Magpies midfield running hard in both directions.
McKenna was an assistant coach at Collingwood for five years and worked closely with Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury as their midfield mentor before leaving at the end of 2008.
Swan, Pendlebury, Luke Ball and Dayne Beams reunited for the first time in 15 months against Adelaide last week and racked up a combined 128 disposals in a rampant performance.
Although describing the Pies midfield as one of the best in the AFL, McKenna was not daunted.
He said the Suns would not "sit on" many of Collingwood's midfielders, and referenced an early season quote from Pendlebury that questioned the Magpies' work-rate.
"I think the best way … is to work on them and work off them," McKenna said.
"They've been challenged by 'Penders' in the press – reading between the lines, (regarding) a bit of downhill skiing. If they want to push hard forward, we work with them, and then we work back the other way just as hard and test them out."
Pendlebury's comments came after Collingwood was beaten on Anzac Day by Essendon.
The star midfielder said the Magpies "started running forward of the footy … we just thought we were going to run over the top of them and they burnt us pretty badly by playing honest football and we started cheating."
McKenna has shown this season he likes to use Danny Stanley in a midfield negating role, but was also not shy of giving jobs to Dion Prestia and re-signed rookie star Jaeger O'Meara.
Both have shown an ability to shut down their opponent and still hunt the ball themselves, quickly turning defence into attack with their speed.
McKenna said he expected a "hell of a game" and was confident his undermanned Suns had the ammunition to cause an upset.
"They travel really well, they've got a great record interstate," he said. "We need to make sure we start putting some good side's away. [If] we bring our best football, we're a good chance to win."
Prestia was restricted to light duties at Friday's training run because of a flu, but will line up, while Charlie Dixon (ankle) and Jesse Lonergan (hamstring) will return from injuries through the Suns reserves.
McKenna said Brandon Matera might also be a chance to play the final two or three rounds of the season after having a screw removed from his injured ankle during the week.
