Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley and his Richmond rival Damien Hardwick have spent the week trying to nurse key AFL forwards back into form. Buckley has handed Chris Dawes the twin responsibilities of ruck/forward following the retirement of Leigh Brown, and the rookie coach admits Dawes is yet to master the role. And 200cm Tyrone Vickery, after a 36-goal season in 2011, had only three touches last week including a goal in a loss to Carlton. “He probably played as poor as I’ve seen him play,” Hardwick said this week of 21-year-old Vickery’s performance. “He’s a player we think has an enormous future at our footy club. We’ll be backing him in.” Buckley is showing similar faith in 2010 premiership forward Dawes who was goalless last week in a loss to Hawthorn. “He definitely is a great foil for ‘Trav’ (Travis Cloke) in that front half and he’s giving ‘Jol’ (Darren Jolly) a chop-out with the ruck role,” Buckley said on Friday. “He’s our first choice in that role so we’ll give him every chance to grow into it. “We’re constantly evolving and ‘Dawesy’ understands that and he’s working very hard to evolve with it.” Bookmakers expect Buckley to land his first win in Saturday night’s match against Richmond at the MCG. However, the Magpies have shown an inability to run out four quarters and they have problems in defence after last week’s 20.17 (137) to 16.19 (115) loss to Hawthorn. “We definitely hope we don’t give up 37 scoring shots,” Buckley said. “We wouldn’t mind having 35 ourselves again, although that’s probably not the style of game we’re looking for. “Early in the season, it’s what you see more often or not because the thing that will drop off is generally defensive intent. “That’s a massive focus for us. “I wasn’t disappointed with our offence. Defensively we need to improve.” Hawthorn booted five of the last six goals in a 22-point victory. “Most sides were gassing it in the last quarter in round one,” Buckley said. “When you’re winning the ball and using it well, it makes it hard for the opposition. It’s hard yards to defend for long periods of time. “That’s basically what happened in the last quarter last week. Hawthorn controlled the ball very well. “Their structures held up – ours fell away a bit. “We’ll have to find an extra 15 or 20 minutes in us this week.” Hardwick is demanding his men put physical pressure on Collingwood’s midfield stars Scott Pendlebury and Dane Swan. And while the 2011 runners-up Collingwood can be expected to dominate out of the centre, Buckley says it will be a tight battle. Buckley said bullocking utility Dustin Martin was a major threat. “He’s a very strong contested-ball player,” Buckley said. “He’s a dangerous player – one of many in their midfield.”