Jeremy Howe’s return from his horrific damaged arm is a bonus for Collingwood coach Craig McRae, who admits he feared the high-flying defender can be misplaced for AFL season.
The Magpies, who host Adelaide on the MCG on Sunday, have stormed to premiership favouritism regardless of vice-captain Howe lacking a dozen video games.
The 32-year-old suffered a left forearm compound fracture in a marking contest in spherical one, along with his arm bending in grotesque trend as he tried to interrupt his fall.
Howe required a number of rounds of surgical procedure and had a setback when the arm turned contaminated early in his restoration.
“Three or four weeks post-operation I thought he was no chance (to return this season),” McRae instructed reporters on Friday.
“When he had the illness and infection there was no timeline attached to it.
“It was all the time the unknown however he mentioned to me he is an excellent bone healer, so he is true to his phrase.”
McRae is confident Howe will perform against an Adelaide attack spearheaded by in-form Taylor Walker, despite not playing any competitive minutes in the reserves on his comeback trail.
The 220-game veteran has trained with the Magpies’ main group for the last three weeks to prove his preparedness for the contest.
“We’ve bought nice confidence in our rehab crew,” McRae mentioned.
“There’s a variety of gamers which have performed the identical factor and it is superb how a lot a GPS tells you today.
“They’re training above AFL level, in terms of intensity, for weeks on end.
“Patty Lipinksi, for instance, did 4 weeks of labor and did extra work than he did for the entire pre-season.
“So (Howe) has done the work but it’s one thing to have done the work; now to go out and do it on the MCG is a different thing.”
Howe’s return has put choice strain on versatile ex-Adelaide tall Billy Frampton forward of a conflict along with his former aspect.
“It’s a good problem to have,” McRae mentioned.
“Billy’s been really important to us and I’m not sure where he fits at the moment but we’ll work through that.
“There’s strain on gamers to carry out and that is an excellent factor.”
Collingwood can reclaim prime spot on the ladder from Port Adelaide, who’ve performed an additional sport and have the bye this week, with victory over the Crows.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
