It’s been so close yet so far for Collingwood during the past two AFL seasons.

Many thought their heartbreaking 2018 grand final defeat was still one to be celebrated considering their surprising surge up the ladder, but last season was a genuine missed opportunity.

At home after a week off, against an opponent coming off two bruising finals, the Magpies still fell four points short in a devastating preliminary loss to GWS.

Pained by those deep September losses, Collingwood have spent a summer searching for the secrets to win that elusive 16th premiership.

“Obviously we’ve been doing some things well but clearly fallen short,” Magpies senior assistant coach Robert Harvey told AAP.

“There were a lot of disappointed players and staff after the (GWS) game.

“Clearly we didn’t execute anywhere near we should’ve and could’ve. But we’ve probably looked at it more in entirety than just one game and some areas where we’ve been falling down consistently.

“There’s a real desire and hunger there to right those wrongs of the past so our expectations are high because of how we have performed.”

A major issue for Nathan Buckley has been having his best team fit and available.

Even as the Magpies buzzed back into finals contention in 2018 after four lean years, injuries have continued to plague the club.

Since 2013, no team has lost more games from their best players than Collingwood.

In all eight seasons under Buckley, the Magpies have ranked in the top- eight most injury-affected sides.

Jordan De Goey, Taylor Adams, Jaidyn Stephenson, Tom Langdon, Mason Cox and Dayne Beams all missed huge chunks of last season.

Despite an interrupted pre-season, dynamic forward De Goey will be “no problem” to line up in the Magpies’ round one game against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.

“(De Goey’s) had a really strong three-week block and we’ll keep working on his conditioning,” Harvey said.

Stephenson copped a 10-game ban for his involvement in a betting scandal last year, but his body has proven to be durable.

Fellow small forward Jamie Elliott has put in his best pre-season for years and a front-half with him firing alongside De Goey and Stephenson will give opposition defences nightmares.

But the news isn’t so good for star midfielder Adam Treloar, who “nicked” his hamstring in Collingwood’s first pre-season, casting doubt on his early season availability.

Even if Treloar misses round one, the Magpies’ on-ball brigade runs deep, despite Beams almost certainly having played his last AFL game.

Collingwood were being prematurely hailed as one of the midfields ever after Beams’ move back from Brisbane at the end of 2018.

But injuries and mental health concerns curtailed his Collingwood homecoming.

Beams took an indefinite break from football in December and looks no closer to returning.

“He’s not regularly at the club at the moment but I think the all the players and staff clearly show they care and support for him,” Harvey said.

Collingwood’s only non-draft inclusion during the off-season was Sydney big man Darcy Cameron.

Despite only playing one game with the Swans, the 24-year-old is expected to lay pressure on Cox for the second ruck-forward spot behind newly re-signed Brodie Grundy.

Collingwood’s six off-season outs, including veteran Tyson Goldsack and Daniel Wells Wells, all added significantly to their depth and might be missed more than people think.

It will be a big year for evergreen skipper Scott Pendlebury, who is just 12 matches shy of Tony Shaw’s Collingwood games record at 313.