AFL pre-season news: Jordan De Goey eyes return, Oliver Henry firms for Collingwood debut after Geelong practice match
Collingwood has indicated when Jordan De Goey will kickstart his 2021 campaign after rolling his ankle in last week’s intra-club match.
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Collingwood star Jordan De Goey will kickstart his 2021 campaign in next Friday’s AAMI Community Series clash with Richmond as Magpie draftee Oliver Henry took another significant step towards locking in a Round 1 debut against the Western Bulldogs.
De Goey was missing from the Magpies’ team that narrowly went down to Geelong on Friday at GMHBA Stadium after rolling his ankle in last week’s intra-club match.
But Magpies assistant coach Hayden Skipworth said the explosive midfielder/forward was a certain starter against the Tigers next week in the last hitout before the opening round.
“If this was a home-and-away season, he would have played (against Geelong), but there was a little bit of swelling, so they took the safe route with him because he is such an important player for us,” Skipworth said of De Goey after the Pies’ two-point loss to the Cats.
“He’ll be right to go against Richmond (in the pre-season game).”
Taylor Adams and Chris Mayne were among the handful of Magpies to miss the lively trial game against Geelong, with Adams racing against the clock to get back for Round.
“Taylor is pushing … he had a hamstring that was a bit more than a three week (injury),” Skipworth said.
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“He’ll be pushing for Round 1, hopefully he will be available for the Richmond game.”
Scott Pendlebury and Brody Mihocek finished the game on the sidelines as a precaution with ice on their calves, but Skipworth said both players would be fine.
After making a strong impression in last week’s intra-club City versus Country match, 18-year-old Henry backed it up with a strong display against the Cats.
The brother of Cat Jack Henry, Oliver used to play at St Mary’s at the adjoining ground near GMHBA Stadium, but performed so well against the Cats on their home deck that Skipworth suggested he was close to a lock to make his debut in Round 1 if he continued his form.
“He gives us a little bit of X-factor in front of the ball,” Skipworth said. “He had speed and (good) aerial (skills).
“We played him deep and high (in attack). He hasn’t played in the midfield this year, but I can see him pushing up there in future years.”
Henry, who was the club’s first pick in last year’s national draft, and No. 17 overall, showed good poise in attack and kicked the opening goal of the third term.
Skipworth said the club had been pleased with its draft haul from last season, including Finlay Macrae, who missed Friday’s game and will work his way through the VFL trial games.
Brodie Grundy was one of the best afield with Skipworth excited by the ruckman’s strong start to competitive footy in 2021.
Defender Jeremy Howe played his first game against an opposition team since his sickening knee injury early last season.
Skipworth said Howe – who played in the Pies intra-club last week – would get even more game time in next week’s clash with Richmond and would continue to build on his match fitness.
FINAL SCORE
Geelong 11.8 (74) def Collingwood 11.6 (72)
IN A NUTSHELL
GEELONG
Look up ‘depth’ in the AFL dictionary, and it’s a fair bet you will find an image of the Geelong 2021 playing list.
The Cats have an extraordinary array of talent to call upon this year, with Jeremy Cameron and Shaun Higgins playing two and three quarters respectively in their first ‘semi-serious’ clash against an opposition team at GMHBA Stadium.
Cameron kicked a goal within the first minute, courtesy of a Patrick Dangerfield zinger, and the pair repeated the dose an hour later on the outside ground when they went through their paces in training drills after their day with the Magpies finished at halftime.
The Cats kicked four goals to one in the first quarter and held a narrow lead at halftime before injecting some of their young players after the main break.
In the end, they still held on to win by two points.
COLLINGWOOD
The Magpies don’t get to play down the highway too often and they looked a little lost at stages of the opening term.
Collingwood used a revolving midfield for most of the game, with Josh Daicos looking lively with more time in the centre square.
Scott Pendlebury played three quarters before finishing the game with ice on his calf, while Brody Mihocek sat out the last term and also had ice applied to his calf.
Steele Sidebottom and Jamie Elliott (three goals) rolled through there as well, while a host of other players including Brayden Sier and Trent Bianco spent some valuable time against the big-bodied Cats midfielders.
Issac Quaynor looked composed across half back.
The Magpies worked their way back into the contest in the second half before narrowly going down to the Cats.
SELECTION PUZZLES
GEELONG
Francis Evans was emergency on three occasions during the COVID-interrupted 2020 season — and on his performance against the Pies, it won’t be long before he makes his AFL debut.
He showed plenty of forward craft early and looked lively, kicking two goals.
Cameron and Higgins — who looks super fit — showed they won’t have a problem getting up for the Round 1 clash against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
COLLINGWOOD
Oliver Henry has firmed even further making a serious case for a Round 1 debut after a solid performance, following on from last week’s intraclub game.
Wearing the famous No. 35 jumper as the club’s first draft pick of 2020, the 18-year-old looked composed with the ball and steady on his feet in a solid display that will have Nathan Buckley and the selectors thinking.
His goal sense looks good too as he nailed a major at the start of the third term and he looks a serious chance to take on the Bulldogs in Round 1.
ONES TO WATCH
GEELONG
Tom Atkins is being reinvented as a halfback and has spent most of the summer with the defensive unit.
The one-time pressure forward rookie was lively running out of defence in the first half and looked to have a fair grasp on the role.
COLLINGWOOD
John Noble is trying to lock down a wing position for the Magpies this season and was solid in his outing against the Cats.
SIDELINED
GEELONG
The scary thing about Geelong wasn’t who was playing, it was the group that couldn’t be considered due to injury issues.
Isaac Smith has had to wait to don the hoops due to an ankle injury, but the Cats hope he will be right for Round 1.
Mitch Duncan is facing a race against time, as is Luke Dahlhaus, while Zach Tuohy pulled out of the game after feeling a bit sore in the warm-up.
Rhys Stanley copped a knock in the second term.
COLLINGWOOD
The Magpies didn’t consider Jordan De Goey, but hope he can resume from his minor setback sooner rather than later.
Taylor Adams was sorely missed in the midfield, while Chris Mayne also missed the game.
TOP MAGPIE DEFENDS SIDEBOTTOM’S LEADERSHIP ROLE
Collingwood vice-captain Taylor Adams has launched a spirited defence of teammate Steele Sidebottom after his retention as one of three vice-captains in an expanded Magpies’ leadership group was questioned by two former AFL greats.
Former Demon forward Garry Lyon and ex-Bombers star Tim Watson said on Thursday the decision rankled with them following Sidebottom’s four-game ban last year for breaking COVID-19 protocols last year.
Watson said Collingwood’s decision to keep Sidebottom in the seven-man leadership group “raised my eyebrow”, while Lyon said: “Whether it was out of character or not, you would think that precludes you from being a leader.”
But Adams, who has been touted as a future Magpies’ skipper when Scott Pendlebury’s reign ends, defended the club’s process, saying the players fully supported the decision.
“Our leaders are chosen by using a system of democracy,” Adams tweeted on Thursday night.
“The people that are most influenced by Steele, make the final decision.”
“And those people vote on what they see day in day out, over a long period of time.”
Sidebottom copped the ban after the Round 4 loss to the Giants – and following Jeremy Howe’s sickening knee injury – when police found him in an intoxicated state.
But the 30-year-old remains part of the 2021 leadership group – with Pendlebury appointed captain for an eighth successive season, with Sidebottom, Howe and Adams as vice-captains and Brodie Grundy, Jordan Roughead and Darcy Moore also in the group.
Lyon said on SEN: “I guess we need to know more intimately what sort of leader he is.”
“He may have that many credits in the bank that Collingwood said, ‘Look, your upside has been enormous, this is a bad mistake, but we still want to back you in’.
“ … (But) maybe this was the time for them to look at it and go, ‘Steele, now is the time for you to finish your career as just a fantastic contributor, but not recognised as an official leader’.”
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