Stars return but Pies battle illness
Collingwood will regain a star trio against Gold Coast on Saturday but will lose forward Lachie Schultz to illness as Isaac Quaynor also races the clock to be fit.
Jordan De Goey, Scott Pendlebury and Brody Mihocek all completed training on Thursday and were cleared to face the Suns, but Schultz (gastro) was ruled out and Quaynor (flu) also absent from the session at Olympic Park.
Pendlebury (bicep) and Mihocek (hamstring) have not played since round 11, while McRae said De Goey was ready to play after groin and abdominal injuries restricted him to only a single game since April.
“(De Goey) is training well, he’s had a good week and he’ll play. We were hoping this was the game we were setting him for, and he’s ticked all those boxes and will play,” McRae said.
Stars return but Pies battle illness
The coach said emerging small forward Joe Richards was also a strong chance to return from a foot injury back into the senior side in Schultz’s absence.
He was conscious of the risk associated with making “five or six changes” from the previous game but said the Magpies’ VFL program had given a good example of how it could work.
“Joey’s come fast because he was literally three or four weeks away … but he’s training really well, he’s put his hand up, so it’s an interesting conversation,” he said.
“Yeah, absolutely (there’s a risk to the many changes), I was sort of thinking that only this morning.
“But it happens – if Schultz doesn’t play and Quaynor doesn’t get up, all of these things … every week you think about dynamics, chemistry and connection.”
McRae said Nick Daicos had boldly stated his desire follow Sydney star Errol Gulden towards playing 100 per cent game time after he burnt off a tag from North Melbourne’s Will Phillips with his running power in the third quarter of the Magpies’ round 14 win.
“You look at Errol Gulden … he’s playing 100 per cent game time at the moment, and Nick’s asking why he can’t,” McRae said.
“He said it out loud, so obviously he’s wanting to. He’s not playing far off that, but he’s got an exceptional engine and he can run all day, and he’s running harder at the end then he does at the start which just makes it really hard for him to be tagged.
“We moved him forward in the second half and he kicks two goals in the last quarter and sets up three – he’s just such a talent.”
McRae did not deny Collingwood’s interest in Swans key forward Logan McDonald but would not be drawn on whether a trade move for the 22-year-old was possible.
“We can’t make comments about other players from other clubs, other than having a bit of a smile about what could be,” he said.
“I saw Marcus Bontempelli at a function the other day – he’d look good in a Collingwood jumper too, but there’s a reality and there’s the truth there.”
He said Gold Coast’s heavily contrasting home and away records were due to stoppage dominance by their midfielders at home, who he urged his side to get on top of early.
“It’s their clearance really, there’s a drop-off in winning clearances away, and the impact of that compared to home (games) with contested possessions,” he said.
“Those things are the hallmark of everybody’s game, and it’s something that we really need to have high intensity around.
“They’re incredible around the clearances, and we’re going to have to match them in that part.”