Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has dismissed as hysteria the debate surrounding his specialist tagger Brent Macaffer.

The long-running debate over midfield tagging is back on the agenda after Macaffer wore Richmond captain Trent Cotchin like a glove during Friday night’s AFL match, restricting him to only 13 disposals.

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick was clearly angry post-match and umpires coach Hayden Kennedy admitted he did not like Macaffer’s tactics.

But Buckley revealed the Magpies had asked the AFL umpiring department to send them video of any missed or unwarranted free kicks from the Macaffer-Cotchin duel.

“They sent through two edits, one of them was questionable in our eyes,” Buckley said.

“Their feedback would be … that contest was umpired well, which is against the hysteria that has taken place over the last couple of days.”

Buckley added he was not anticipating any extra focus on Macaffer from the umpires this Saturday when Collingwood play North Melbourne at the MCG.

“I don’t expect anyone to cop extra attention,” Buckley said.

“We expect the game to be umpired to the letter of the law.”

Collingwood are likely to regain key defender Nathan Brown from the dislocated shoulder he suffered in round two, while Sam Dwyer (knee) and Taylor Adams (suspension) are also available.

“To the eye, he looks ready to go,” Buckley said of Brown.

Collingwood belted Richmond by 38 points last week, while North are coming off outstanding wins over Port Adelaide and Sydney.

“They looked really strong (and) their last two performances … two top-six sides from last year, have been exemplary,” Buckley said.

“They have got the runs on the board over the last couple of years, they’ve gradually improved and they have high expectations for where they’re going to go.

“It’s going to be a really good challenge for us, to test our development and our recent form against a side who’s performing really well.”