Collingwood's rise up the ladder has been one of the big surprises of season 2022, with the Pies currently a premiership contender.
These efforts are a long way off their truly disappointing 2021 campaign of finishing 17th and seeing senior coach Nathan Buckley depart.
Collingwood's list management has been, from the outer, quite polarising with the controversial 2020 trade period turning into a massive controversy.
That year, the Pies had to offload star midfielder Adam Treloar and rising star winner Jaidyn Stephenson, and were met with heavy fan and media backlash.
However, the club has picked up some draft gems in recent years to quickly rebuild the team into the top eight contenders they currently are. From father-son pick Nick Diacos to the recruit of Ash Johnson in the 2021 Mid-Season Draft, and the emerging cult figure of Jack Ginnivan, Collingwood has drafted exceptionally well.
Magpies recruiting manager Derek Hine can take most of the credit for this, however, the Collingwood list veteran has already shifted his focus to the 2022 national draft.
Speaking on The Road to the Draft, Hine already has plans for their approach to building their list further.
"We just have to be prepared for anything," Hine said.
"There's several levers around player acquisition, draft and trade are the obvious.
"It's too simplistic to say we're going to be picking in this particular range, and we're only gonna have one pick, then you go through the trade period and there's an extra one or two picks."
The Magpies currently hold selections 17,42,45,47 and 89 for the National Draft.
When quizzed on the chances of taking their opening round selection to the draft, Hine said it would be likely.
"We'll certainly be taking that pick to the draft I would've thought," he said.
"Depending where we're picking it'll be the best player."
Two of the standout players for the Pies in 2022 have been Ginnivan and Beau McCreery, who Hind rates both very highly for their work rate and character.
"There are so much more elements to his game", Hine said of McCreery, while describing fellow 2020 draftee Ginnivan as "a natural player".
Collingwood currently sits in second on the ladder and have won a string of games by less than 10 points, which will certainly make for an eventful September.
