This year: 16 wins, 9 losses, 122.27 percentage

This year's grade (A-F): B

Positives from this year: In his first season as captain Nick Maxwell was a revelation and after a controversial start to the year in which he beat a four-match suspension for breaking the jaw of Eagles youngster Patrick McGinnity on appeal, Maxwell turned in a career best season culminating in All Australian selection. Maxwell led the Pies to the finals for the fourth year in a row - to show there was life after the retirements of Nathan Buckley, James Clement and Scott Burns over the past two seasons, which was the first time the club had made four successive finals appearances since 1981. With Maxwell in commanding form and veteran full-back Simon Prestigiacomo remarkably turning in a career best season in his 14th season and just a year after his career looked over when foot and groin injuries kept him to just two games in 2008, the Pies defence performed superbly in 2009. In fact the Pies conceded 260 less points over the course of the home and away season this year than last year, which played the key role in the club's rise from eighth spot in 2008 (although they finished higher after winning in week one of the finals) to a top four finish this year. And the other star for the Pies this year was prolific midfielder Dane Swan, who also turned in a career best season to actually start second favourite for the Brownlow Medal (although he would poll just 12 votes) with his highlight being his phenomenal 48-possession game against Port Adelaide in Round 10.

Negatives from this year: The Pies were yet again so close but so far from making the step from perennial finalists to genuine premiership contenders with the club - for all its financial muscle and giant supporter base - still having won just one premiership in the past 50 years. The future of coach Mick Malthouse was the subject of much speculation throughout the year and he has now been in charge for 10 years without taking the club to the ultimate success, although the Pies have been in six finals and two grand finals during his tenure. With so much speculation - particularly about the likelihood of Buckley succeeding Malthouse - Collingwood president Eddie McGuire was eventually forced to act and came up with a succession plan which will see Malthouse hand the reins to Buckley after two more years while the former Magpies skipper will join the club next year as an assistant coach before taking over in 2012. But Malthouse will start next year under plenty of pressure and indeed could yet be replaced sooner if the club goes backwards or again fails to bridge the gap to the leading sides. The Pies' finals campaign might have included a memorable semi-final win over Adelaide but its qualifying final loss to St Kilda and particularly its 12-goal loss to Geelong in the preliminary final yet again exposed some of the Pies' star players as being unable to thrive under intense pressure. Yet again the likes of Alan Didak, Leon Davis and Travis Cloke were found wanting in September when the pressure was at its fiercest, as has been the case in previous finals campaigns, while the nagging knee injury to Josh Fraser and the untimely broken leg suffered by star on-baller Scott Pendlebury exposed the Pies as lacking sufficient star players in the finals.

Likely departures: Anthony Rocca (retired), Chris Bryan, Anthony Corrie, Ben Johnson, Shane O'Bree, Sean Rusling, Danny Stanley

Next year:

Type of Players needed: With Rocca slipping into retirement and the injury-plagued Rusling unlikely to reach his early potential, the Pies badly need key forwards to support Cloke, who although disappointing in the finals does lack support. Full-forward John Anthony is a great kick - and few Pies fans will ever forget his match-winning goal against the Crows in the semi-final win - but is one dimensional in that he is a mark and kick player who struggles at ground level. The Pies rely too heavily on their small forwards to kick goals and Didak, Davis and Paul Medhurst - whose form was so bad that he was actually dropped for the preliminary final - have continually struggled to get the Pies home in the really big matches and would benefit from a stronger key forward presence in the Pies' attack. And with Fraser's niggling knee problems still on-going, the Pies could do with another ruckman although Cameron Wood showed promise this year but the fact the Pies often preferred key position player Leigh Brown as the team's second ruckman showed there is not much confidence in either Wood or Bryan in the long-term while the Pies' ageing midfield could do with a boost with O'Bree likely to retire and Johnson also nearing the end of his career.

Likely improvement: Unless the Pies can find the same kind of boost to their forward line that they managed defensively this season, it's hard to see them bridging the gap on the likes of Geelong and St Kilda. In six matches against the other top four teams this season, the Pies won just once - against the Bulldogs in Round 15 - when they scraped home by a point after almost throwing away a 34-point lead at three-quarter-time. The upcoming trade period will be critical for the Pies and expect them to trade aggressively in a bid to get short-term help for a team that either keeps overachieving by constantly making finals despite lacking the stars of the other top sides or underachieving by constantly coming up short in September depending on your viewpoint. For mine the Pies have done well with what they have - with Malthouse continuing to coach excellently after now having coached unbroken for 26 seasons across three clubs - but he is running out of time to deliver the ultimate success with Buckley waiting in the wings.

Finals next year? Expect the Pies to play finals again - and indeed their dream draw every year with more matches at the MCG each season than any other club is a big help in that regard - but that elusive premiership still looks as far away as ever.