COLLINGWOOD is counting the cost of its loss to Greater Western Sydney, with vice-captain Taylor Adams set to be sidelined with a knee injury as coach Nathan Buckley flags changes for the Magpies.
The bullocking midfielder was a casualty of the Pies' 30-point defeat to the Giants at the MCG, limping from the field in the second half after the injury.
The club had already used its medical substitute to replace Brayden Sier, who had come down with gastro throughout the game, when Adams left the contest and the club suspects he has injured a medial ligament.
"The doc says it's significant enough, obviously to not go back out so we'll see how that settles over the next day or so," Buckley said post-game.
"They would have been handy to have there [in the second half] and Tay in particular is a player who is a leader we need out there when the whips are cracking but we'll need to find a replacement there."
The defeat leaves Buckley's side placed at one win after four rounds of the season and the coach was clearly disappointed with the Pies' "consistent contested intent" so far in 2021, saying it was a new question on the team having previously been a strength.
He indicated there would have to be a shift internally for Collingwood to dig itself out of an underwhelming start to its campaign, with Buckley citing Darcy Cameron, Finlay Macrae, Reef McInnes, Ollie Henry and Caleb Poulter as all being in selection considerations.
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"You can't be 1-3 and sit on your hands. We think we've picked the best sides to get results and we haven't, so we've got to look at changes. Whether that's the way we play, whether we strip things back, the way we prepare or personnel," he said.
"There's plenty of things that will be assessed in that regard and we've got six days to turn around and get over to Perth."
The Magpies will take on West Coast at Optus Stadium – the scene of their remarkable elimination final win last year – next Friday night as they look to get a hold of their campaign.
"We're not in a hole. We need to address this right now and turn it around," he said.
An "extremely proud" Giants counterpart Leon Cameron admitted that his belief had been shaken after his side's 0-3 start to the year.
"If I sat here and … denied that then I would probably be kidding myself," he said.
"Belief comes from strong performances. We were flat after round one. We thought we probably did enough to get the job done. We had a young group the next week but the thing I loved about last week was we fought the fight against Melbourne.
"We lost the game but we never, ever gave in and when they rocked up on a six-day break for training on Tuesday you could clearly see they just want to play footy. We're an extremely young group at the moment. You can't take away the enthusiasm of youth and it's a significant night for us."
Cameron praised stand-in captain Toby Greene for his match-winning five-goal haul but said the gun forward was comfortable as full-time skipper Stephen Coniglio's deputy, while also suggesting the club would continue to use "part-time" ruckman Shane Mumford on an ad hoc basis after coming into the side and performing well against Collingwood star Brodie Grundy.
"It was the perfect game for Shane to come in. Where we get to [with him] I can't give you the answer. Does he play again next week and then has a spell? Clearly he can't do what he used to do and part of me also wants to develop the next ruckman as well so it's a fine line," Cameron said.
"I couldn't expect him playing three or four games in a row."
