Stress test to put Pies under the microscope

COACH Nathan Buckley has vowed the Magpies will not be treading water in the back end of the year, saying the club will learn a lot about individuals when the “stress comes on”.

Admitting yesterday that the whole club was “under siege”, Buckley said there was still plenty of optimism about what the team could deliver against the backdrop of a searching internal review.

“You find out a little bit about individuals and organisations when the stress comes on,’’ Buckley said yesterday.

“There is opportunity for growth for everyone, but the players have taken that on board and we’re pretty confident that we’ll get some really good effort and really good performances in the end part of this season. We don’t sit on our hands now just treading water, we’re actually in the business of developing and trying to improve and trying to be better and we will continue to do that.’’

At 6-10, finals are now all but over for the 14th-placed Magpies, who will aim to back up from last week’s win over Gold Coast against West Coast at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Buckley said it was not a case of individuals now playing for their careers, but more a focus on lifting overall team performance — starting with a strict defensive mantra.

“We’ve set ourselves to be a really good defensive side in the back part of the year,’’ he said. “We’ve allowed too many scores against — we are just focusing on making sure we really clean that up and defend as consistently and efficiently as we can.’’

The Pies suffered an unlucky break this week when captain Scott Pendlebury required surgery on an injured finger sustained in last weekend’s win over the Gold Coast.

But Buckley hoped the injury, which Pendlebury described as the most painful of his career, might only keep the skipper out for 1-2 weeks.