Darcy Moore survives crash into Etihad Stadium fence and nearly lifts Collingwood to victory

COACH Nathan Buckley has praised Darcy Moore after the emerging forward shone for the Pies despite crashing heavily into the advertising fence. WATCH THE INCIDENT

Darcy Moore crashes into the fence at Etihad Stadium. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley has poured praise on Darcy Moore after the emerging forward shone in the Pies’ fighting loss to the Western Bulldogs.

Moore, returning from a hamstring injury, kicked 3.3 from 13 possessions and three contested marks in another highly promising performance.

The Pies played with vigour and energy and were dejected over a three-point loss.

But Buckley’s disappointed was softened by a collection of excellent performances, including Moore’s.

“We’ll build a forward line around Darcy over the next 10 years,” Buckley said.

“He’s ready to go now and he’s only played 25, 26 games and he’s ready to impact the competition in a big way. He’s going to be really important for us, starting now.

Darcy Moore crashes head first into the fence at Etihad Stadium. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Moore left bloodied and bruised after his scare. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

“He’s mobile, athletic, he always threatens in the air and his contest at ground level is strong as well.”

Moore sent a scare through the Collingwood camp, however, when he crashed hard into the advertising fence, resulting in a gash over his right eye.

“It looked full-on, it looked pretty significant,” Buckley said.

“He’s got LED dimples in the side of his head so it wasn’t a small knock, but he bounced back from that OK.”

With Travis Cloke dropped for the third time and Mason Cox sidelined with injury, the Pies’ more mobile front half swarmed and its forward pressure stifled the Dogs’ famed rebound.

Asked if he thought Cloke would be at Collingwood next year, Buckley said: “There’s plenty of time for that. Travis is contracted and our endeavour all along ... has been to get him back to playing the best footy he can play.

“I’m pretty confident Trav can regain his confidence and form and we expect that to be with us next year.”

With Moore, Adam Treloar led the Collingwood charge, finishing with 34 possessions — 22 coming in the second half.

“There’s pot shots coming from all angles for anyone associated with the Collingwood Football Club at the moment and there’s plenty we would like to have worked better ... but Adam Treloar is not one who should be copping it,” Buckley said.

“His just got great wheels, he’s fast, he wins the ball inside, he can get outside. He can clean up his use but he just breaks the game up so he’s going to be a very good midfielder in the competition as he has been and very important for us going forward.”

The Pies won the tackle count 87-74 and matched the Dogs for contested ball, clearances and inside 50s leaving Buckley to lament a “couple of howlers” that cost them the game.

“That’s got to be a minimum effort for us, but we brought the right intent, tried to play our brand for four quarters and it was a marginal result,” he said.

“Our use, on the whole, was pretty good but we just had four or five key decisions or key execution errors that cost us goals. Isolated errors hurt us.”

Originally published as Darcy Moore survives crash into Etihad Stadium fence and nearly lifts Collingwood to victory