Collingwood captain Darcy Moore is taking a optimistic view of his enforced stint on the sidelines as he prepares to steer the minor premiers into the AFL finals.
Moore missed the Magpies’ last two home-and-away matches with a hamstring damage sustained in the course of the round-22 win over Geelong.
The star defender was capable of resume working three days later and has declared himself “100 per cent” match to play within the qualifying last in opposition to Melbourne on September 7.
“I’ve had a really good training block for a couple of weeks and put some work in to be ready to go next Thursday night, so I’m keen,” Moore advised reporters on Wednesday.
“As much as you’d love to play every game … I suppose in hindsight it’s a good chance to freshen up both mentally and physically.”
Brownlow Medal fancy Nick Daicos seems unlikely to get better from a knee damage in time to face Melbourne, although key defender Nathan Murphy (again/glute) and stress ahead Beau McCreery (suspension) can be found to return.
“We’ve got a lot of guys in form and one person basically on our injury list at the moment,” Moore stated.
“It’s a great position for the team to be in and there’s going to be some stiff individuals but that’s what makes a great team.”
Collingwood entered final 12 months’s finals sequence as a shock packet, having surged up the ladder on the again of a sequence of slender victories.
This time they’re the flag favourites, ending on high of the ladder regardless of profitable simply two of their final 5 home-and-away video games.
“We’re pretty confident. We think our best footy is ahead of us,” Moore stated.
“We were riding the wave last year of some great momentum, winning 11-12 games in a row was really exciting, and this year feels like a new challenge.
“But we have got loads of guys within the group with expertise from final 12 months, so we’ll positively draw upon that within the subsequent month and we’re hoping to deliver our greatest.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
