Myrtleford-raised Collingwood defender Jack Crisp has rejected suggestions the club will fall out of finals following its tumultuous trade period.
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Grand final (2018) players in midfielder Adam Treloar, forward Jaidyn Stephenson and wingman Tom Phillips left due to salary cap issues with coach Nathan Buckley admitting the public perception is the Pies will be weaker this year.
"They (the public) can say that all they want, but everything happens for a reason," Crisp explained.
"We kept our team together for three years because we thought we had the right list to make something happen, but as it turned out we kept falling down the ladder a little bit more, so with the list changes we made, we've got some really good players.
We kept our team together for three years because we thought we had the right list to make something happen, but as it turned out we kept falling down the ladder a little bit more, so with the list changes we made, we've got some really good players.
- Jack Crisp
"We trained for a week prior to Christmas and I like what I saw and, other than that, we're still a pretty strong and healthy list.
"I can see those young fellows fitting in really well and I still think we're going to be a good team."
The Pies picked up six players in last month's AFL Draft, including five in the top 31, comprising first round selections Oliver Henry (Geelong Falcons, No.17), Finley Macrea (Oakleigh Chargers, No.19) and Reef McInnes (Chargers, No.23).
Crisp's confidence will delight the Pies' army and it makes perfect sense too after the Pies went from that unforgettable five-point loss to West Coast in the 2018 decider to a four-point loss to GWS in the 2019 preliminary final, followed by the 68-point caning to eventual grand finalists Geelong in last year's first semi.
That effort typified the Pies' rollercoaster season after they produced a superb performance in edging out West Coast by a point in Perth the previous week.
In fact, the Pies never lost two straight matches, but also never won more than two successive games.
"I don't know where it really went wrong, we started pretty well, round one was good (they smashed Western Bulldogs by 52 points) and then obviously we were laid off (the competition took a COVID-19 break for almost 12 weeks) for a while," he suggested.
"I don't want to use that as an excuse, it was good for the club to get away together, meet a few partners and family members of staff and players that I hadn't met before, so it was kind of a blessing in disguise in terms of that, so I can't blame COVID for poor performance."
Despite the Pies' inconsistency, Crisp's form was a constant, claiming his third J.J Joyce Trophy for finishing third in the best and fairest.
The 27-year-old will also celebrate 10 seasons in the AFL.
He played 18 games with Brisbane from 2012-2014 and has clocked up 135 at Collingwood.
"It's obviously something to hold your head high on because the average AFL career is probably only half that. Time's flown, especially since I left Brisbane, I'm coming into my seventh year at Collingwood," he offered.
"Moving to Brisbane was pretty intense first up and living away from home was another eye-opener, but once you get the hang of it (the AFL life and system) it's pretty good.
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"It's pretty surreal, you see fans coming out to watch you train and all the family days, how supporters, a lot of them live and breathe for the football club, it's a good thing to be part of."
The club's 76,862 members (the league's third highest behind West Coast and Richmond) will be hoping they can live and breathe another premiership, the first since 2010.
