Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury says the drought breaking premiership successes of Richmond and Western Bulldogs provide hope to his club that anything is possible.
The Pies have not made the finals since 2013, but he believes the re-signing of coach Nathan Buckley, along with key appointments in other areas will help see a quick return to September action.
“With the Bulldogs doing it, Richmond from 13th last year I think gives every side hope, especially us,” Pendlebury said on SEN Breakfast.
“I’ve got no doubt the stability that has come to the football club, Geoff Walsh being back, keeping Bucks again for another two years- I reckon it’s going to be a quick bounce back to finals.”
Pendlebury said their goal kicking is one of the major areas they will be working on over the summer, considering they were competitive in almost every game, yet blew so many chances.
“We were in so many games of football this year,” he said.
“I think our biggest losing margin was 35 points, so we were competitive. Early on our goal kicking was atrocious and cost us probably three or four games.”
Another key change will place key focus on doing all their drills with footballs in hand, rather than just focusing on aerobic fitness, in order to work on skill level.
“A lot of the running is going to be done with balls in hand and doing skills, so when we’re fatigued we’ve actually still got the footy’s,” Pendlebury said.
“I think a lot of footy clubs these days it’s so sports science orientated, that you do a lot of your running without the ball, and you’re doing 300’s for times.
“We want to get back into being a football club and training footy all the time, and just being a bit more brutal in that regard.”