GAME analysis and education coordinator Craig Jennings says Melbourne will prepare for Collingwood’s absolute best, when it takes on the Magpies at the MCG on Sunday.

Although St Kilda upstaged Collingwood by 29 points at the MCG last round, Jennings said there was no chance Melbourne would take the Pies lightly this weekend.

“We prepare the same every single week – it doesn’t matter where the opposition is on the ladder. We prepare for them at their best,” he told Melbourne TV.

“We note there will be a lot of talk or emphasis out of that footy club about their forward 50 pressure, and the way they press up – given they only had two forward 50 tackles [last round]. We think our ball movement can manage that part of the game really well.

“Really, the game for us starts and finishes in the contest. If we get that part of the game right, we think it’ll stand us in good stead to get a good result this week.

“We also note that they’ve got [Steele] Sidebottom and [Travis] Varcoe back in the team and they’re two great running players and that’s going to change the way they’ll play this week. We plan for them at their best and we really look forward to playing them on Sunday.” 

Jennings said Melbourne’s thriller against North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena last Sunday “was a great game, but it would’ve been better if we’d have got across the line”.

“We learned a lot about our players and our coaches, and how we need to get things down in tight situations,” he said.

“I think the real positive out of that game is the resilience by the players after being seven goals down and then we hit the front, pretty early in the second quarter.

“The new goalscoring ability we’ve got, every week we’ve been able to kick five or six goals in a row and I think that’s a really positive thing going forward.”

In reviewing the match, Jennings said it was a big session on Monday.

“Firstly, the coaches got together for two or three hours and then the players split into their groups and they spent about two hours going through the game,” he said.

“The message this year is that it is a very positive one and we’ve got some really good DNA with our contest that’s been instilled into the group over the past two or three years. Now we’re learning a bit of a new system, in terms of structure with our defensive positioning and the way we move the footy.

“It was a little bit like the game against Essendon – it didn’t go to plan and we retreated, but we put things in place [against North Melbourne], where they played the way they trained and for the majority of the game, they got it right.

“That was evidenced in us kicking 20 goals against a team that’s the oldest list in the comp. They’re a very professional outfit and they’re going to go close to playing in the Grand Final this year. We did everything right, but win the game in the end. With such an inexperienced team, some of those lessons are going to be very valuable for us going forward.”