The midfielder shone on Friday night in the Magpies' convincing 16.13 (109) to 12.6 (78) win over Sydney at Adelaide Oval, racking up 29 possessions, nine clearances and six tackles.
Long had the substitute role in three of their first games this season, but he relished starting against the Swans and was their best player along with fellow onballer Steele Sidebottom.
Friday night was Long's 17th game in four seasons after Hawthorn delisted him and he then went to Collingwood in last year's mid-season draft.
"I don't think he'll be a sub for a while - his game was remarkable, right from the start," said coach Craig McRae.
"His contest work was so strong, he looks such a beast at the contest. He's going to be hard to stop when he plays like that."
Collingwood might have been vulnerable, after losing Dan Houston to suspension and Jordan De Goey and Lachie Schultz to injury.
But they wore down Sydney with their pressure, taking 12 contested marks to one.
"We touched on it before the game - not the number on your back, it's how you fit in, and the system and the spirit you play with," McRae said.
"We look really well-connected."
It was Collingwood's fourth win in a row and their 10th straight at Adelaide Oval.
They now head to the Gabba for next Thursday night's game against Brisbane, the reigning premiers.
"It's going to be a great game and they're going to be hard to beat," McRae said.
"But we'll stay here for a minute and we have six days to get ready for that.
"We'll go up there with good confidence."
Like Sidebottom, fellow veteran Darcy Moore also shone and McRae said their strong starts to the season are no accident.
"One of the things that stood out in reviewing last season was that our guys 30-plus didn't do enough fundamentals," McRae said.
"They are a hallmark and foundation of our game and we do so much work on it.
"We deliberately planned around our 30-plus players doing a lot more fundamentals and Steele is showing the benefit of that."
Star onballer NIck Daicos shook off the tag from James Jordon and had a game-high 34 possessions.
But it was another stat that most pleased McRae about the younger Daicos.
"He has a guy in his back pocket the whole game and he has nine tackles," McCrae said.
"He's doing things for others, which we really love. We're proud of his defensive game."
20°C