Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley is the latest AFL coach to call for a tough stance against Essendon.

Buckley backed Carlton counterpart Mick Malthouse’s strong views on the Bombers’ fielding a team in the NAB Challenge.

“There won’t be any doubt they’ll have enough players to field a team. And if you have to find players from outside, then allow it. It’s an exceptional circumstance,’’ Buckley said.

“I heard Mick’s comments this morning and I agree with him. The AFL is an 18 team competition and the AFL has to be strong in the way they enforce their regulations and expectations on each and every one of the clubs.

“It just so happens it’s Essendon on this occasion and you would expect strong leadership from the top.’’

media_camera Tyson Goldsack has been added to the leadership group. Picture: Daniel Wilkins

On the Bombers’ supplements saga, Buckley said: “I think the feeling is that it will be better put behind us, the quicker we can do that, the better. The AFL aren’t entirely in control of it, “ASADA has clearly got the reins at the moment and the sooner those findings come down the better and everyone can get on with business.’’

Buckley spoke at Calder Raceway as he unveiled a new streamlined leadership group.

Captain Scott Pendlebury will be backed by vice-captains Travis Cloke, Nathan Brown, Steele Sidebottom and Tyson Goldsack.

Goldsack is elevated to the shortened leadership group to replace retired pair Nick Maxwell and Luke Ball and the omitted Clinton Young and Lachie Keeffe.

“The first port of call is consistency in performance. In the last 12 months, Tyson’s ability to challenge and demand from his teammates was a real standout for us. And I think Steele has developed in that regard as well,’’ Buckley said.

media_camera Collingwood wants young leaders to stand up. Picture: Michael Klein

“The other two big boys (Cloke and Brown) run their respective divisions really strongly and bring different things to the table.

“They will be responsible for driving culture and behaviour of the playing group and working closely with the coaches on how we want to play our footy.

“Five very strong leaders, all premiership players, all know what it takes to get there and entrusted to work with the coaches to drive this young group towards its next period of sustained success. We want to get back into finals and this is clearly the ambition of all these boys.

“We’re a young list, we’ve got a lot of players 22 and under, but we’ve also got 12 premiership players on the list, five which make up the leadership group.

“So, we have strong leadership and understanding at the top end and really strong emerging leaders coming through, guys like Taylor Adams, Jamie Elliott, Marley Williams, Jarrod Witts who were recognised in the voting. And we’ll continue to work with them to develop their leadership on and off the field.’’

The Magpies start the NAB Challenge against Hawthorn in two weeks and mature recruits Travis Varcoe (Geelong), Levi Greenwood (North Melbourne) and Jack Crisp (Brisbane) will get opportunities to meld into the line-up.

“Trav has improved his fitness out of sight. He had his first full pre-season last year with the Cats and was more consistent and played more games than any stage of his career,’’ the coach said.

“We’ve seen him take his fitness to another level, so the way he’s running he’ll play through the midfield and forward.

“Levi, obviously top three in a best and fairest last year, has come in off a reduced (training) load pre-Christmas. But he’s an elite runner, a hard tackler and has bought in to the way we go about it.

“And Jack in the last half a dozen games last year displayed what he’s capable of. He has thrown himself into training and he’s going to be a really strong utility for us, he can play forward, wing, mid, and he has played half-back during training.

“We’re a bit healthier than we have been the last couple of years. Selection is going to come more down to what’s best for the team on that day, against that opponent.’’