Before the naysayers pounce, yes, two of the three wins have been against Brisbane and St Kilda. But Saturday's Anzac Day victory over Essendon should be warning enough that Nathan Buckley's side has been somewhat underestimated. It was a victory that wouldn't have looked out of place in the Pies' premiership year of 2010, despite the presence of just seven of those premiership players in Saturday's team. Sure, Collingwood's skill level has slipped a little since then, but this was a hard-working exercise where they played the percentages much better than their opponent and emerged with their due rewards. Perhaps the most significant part of the win, though, came in who drove it. Of the five Collingwood players who featured in the voting for the Anzac Medal, only one, Nathan Brown had racked up more than 50 games. Paul Seedsman played a blinder, the significance of Jack Crisp's run-with role on Essendon skipper Jobe Watson can't be overstated, Jack Frost was terrific on Joe Daniher and Jake Carlisle, and in Taylor Adams, Collingwood might actually have the replacement for the in-and-under qualities of Luke Ball they've so patently missed.

That's just the tip of the iceberg though, with the likes of Marley Williams, Tom Langdon, Tim Broomhead, Jackson Ramsay and Adam Oxley coming fast. And another trio of highly rated draftees in Darcy Moore, Matt Scharenberg and Nathan Freeman who haven't even played a game yet. Indeed, look at Collingwood's entire list and you realise just how long ago the glory years of 2010-11 really are. In 2015, only five clubs have a younger playing group than the Pies. And in terms of experience, the departures of Dayne Beams and Heritier Lumumba have meant there are now a dozen rivals whose players have more games under their belts. That means the Magpies are going to have their share of bad days, when younger bodies and minds not hardened to the grind of a six-month season are found wanting. But given the amount of inexperience that has been introduced in a relatively short time You certainly don't need 100 games to your name to simply get in and have a crack, and that's something at which the Magpies' younger types have been particularly good so far, to the point that before the weekend Collingwood had earned a higher percentage of contested possession relative to their opponents than any other team.

There were any number of examples of that against Essendon. But two of the most noteworthy came from Jack Frost, who early on split an aerial contest then recovered to get to the ball first at ground level and win a free kick; then, at a critical stage with the Bombers getting on top, Tom Langdon chased down David Zaharakis to win another free, and Essendon's momentum pretty much halted there and then. Collingwood's dependence on Scott Pendlebury, Dane Swan, Steele Sidebottom and Travis Cloke had become unhealthy. Saturday's win went some way to proving that may not be the case for much longer. With Carlton, Richmond, Geelong and Gold Coast to come over the next month, the Magpies have to be a serious chance of being 6-2, perhaps even 7-1 after eight rounds, which may raise more eyebrows than perhaps it should. The Collingwood army, for its part, seems to have split into two camps, both informed to an extent by the events of four or five years ago. There's a minority who insist that what was achieved then should still be possible now, the same group who insist that Buckley's Collingwood are an underperformed disappointment treading water. At the other extreme is the much larger band who acknowledge times have changed but are remarkably downbeat about the Pies' prospects in the immediate future.

The truth, as is usually the case in these matters, lies somewhere in between. Watch Saturday night's two classic games in Adelaide and Perth and you'd be fairly comfortable saying Collingwood aren't in the same league as the top four contenders. But watch what had taken place at the MCG a few hours earlier and you wouldn't rule out the possibility, given the speed of the younger brigade's development, that sooner than later they could be. And that even till then, the Magpies deserve to be taken more seriously than some well-meaning but patronising pats on the head. And while I'm at it... Is there already a gap emerging between the best four teams in the competition and the rest? It's a question worth asking after two more epic Saturday night games between the cream of the crop.

The Port Adelaide-Hawthorn clash in Adelaide and the Fremantle-Sydney stoush in Perth were remarkably similar in nature, both home sides flying out of the blocks and building what seemed leads more than enough, yet in the finish were under serious threat from a couple of heavyweights. That's what Hawthorn and Sydney are indisputably. But how could you not also apply the same tag now to either the Dockers or Power regardless of current win-loss ledgers. Undefeated Freo has no peer at defensive football, but the Dockers' discovery of some genuine forward firepower has made them that much more credible a premiership threat. Port Adelaide, meanwhile, is a deceptive 2-2. The Power might have been unimpressive in their home defeat to Sydney, but the other loss was a nailbiter in Perth to the Dockers, they held off another good team in North Melbourne last week, and on Saturday night beat the team that only three weeks ago some dared suggest were close to unbeatable. Not only was it the result, but the manner in which that astonishing 58-point lead was achieved, seven goals coming in a 15-minute burst in which the Power were close to untouchable. Of course, look at the AFL ladder right now in isolation and this very discussion sounds absurd. While Fremantle sit on top, Sydney are fifth, the reigning premiers seventh and the Power 13th. Play the finals now and GWS would have the double chance and Hawthorn playing the very impressive Western Bulldogs in a knockout final.

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott wondered last Friday night on SEN whether it might be harder to make sense of the ladder for longer this season, given how often the top teams have come up against each other in the early rounds. That's not a bad thing, either. But I'll still be at least mildly surprised if it's not the Hawks, the Swans, the Dockers and the Power lining up coming qualifying final weekend four months from now.