NATHAN Buckley has been left to rue a horror quarter of footy that cost Collingwood the four points after his side had the better of Sydney for most of the match at the SCG.

The Magpies went missing for much of the third quarter, allowing the Swans to kick five unanswered goals – a lapse which ultimately proved decisive to the outcome.

"We played three quarters and you can't afford to do that against a good opposition," Buckley said after the match.

SUPER SWANS Full match coverage and stats

"Our third quarter was really poor and the Swans lifted and played some really good footy there but we just fell away from our contest and our defence and weren't able to control the game at all for 30 minutes. The other 90 minutes I reckon we did. But you've got to play four quarters to win."

The Pies are still sitting in the top four for now and there was a lot for Buckley to like from their narrow two-point defeat.

"We did enough right to deserve to win the game but we didn’t do enough to win it ultimately. There'll be some stuff we like out of that but it’s pretty hard to talk about at the moment when you haven’t bested the opposition," he said.

"We thought we had an answer to (six-goal hero Lance) Franklin, we thought we had an answer to (Aliir) Aliir that we found late in the third, and the players were asked to play roles in that and did exceptionally well. We got our noses in front and when you’re playing a game like that, you can’t afford to drop off as much as we did in that third…"

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As for Franklin, Buckley said the Swans spearhead looked like he was moving a lot better than he was last week and that he was ultimately the difference between the two sides.

"He’s a dominant player and when he’s up and about he’s pretty hard to stop. He was a thorn in our side - what did he kick, 40 points out of the 73. Ten scoring shots out of 18. So I think he was pretty important for them."

WATCH Nathan Buckley's full post-match press conference

The Magpies play Brisbane next week and while Buckley isn't focusing on where his team is sitting on the table, he's hoping for a return of some good fortune.

"We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t understand where we sat [on the table] and what's happening around, but we haven't focused on it to this point so we won’t be focusing on it now," he said.

"We play Brisbane in seven days' time and it’s a game we want to play four quarters of footy in and get a win in, so we’ll pick our best 22, prepare as best as we can and want to get back on the winners list."