Collingwood's potent attack is a major focus for Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge ahead of their Friday night AFL blockbuster at Marvel Stadium.
While their leading goalkicker Brody Mihocek will miss the clash because of hamstring tightness, Beveridge said the Magpies are more than the sum of their parts in front of goal.
Ash Johnson will replace Mihocek, while utility Jordan De Goey returns from his three-game suspension and is another potent scoring option.
"We're going to have headaches with the blend down there," Beveridge said.
"It's probably a smaller, agile, nimble forward line than some other teams, where you can't necessarily hang your hat on having anchor key forwards who you can play against.
"So we'll need to do it our own way."
The Magpies are on top of the ladder with the best percentage, but are fourth for scoring.
They have no-one in the league's top-10 goalkickers - Mihocek is 11th with 32 - but Collingwood are particularly dangerous around goal in tight games.
It will be a major test for the Bulldogs, who have won their last two games and could break into the top four if they can upset the Magpies.
Defender Ed Richards, who was in strong form before suffering a hamstring injury, will play his first game since round 12.
"It is a fraction early ... he's ticked everything off, he's worked extremely hard and he's done enough training in his preparation to be ready," Beveridge said.
"Ed doesn't lose much - he's high in endurance and speed, so hopefully we don't get any recurrences.
"It's the first significant soft-tissue (injury) for him."
This will be the first time the two sides have played since the Bulldogs beat Collingwood by eight goals in round nine last season.
"It's a good test for us, to see how we come up," Beveridge said.
The Magpies also lost hard-nosed defender Brayden Maynard to shoulder soreness.
