AFL Daily: Collingwood won't hold back Jordan De Goey and Darcy Moore if fit to play

Collingwood won't give up on the double chance with coach Nathan Buckley saying if players are fit they'll be straight back in the team before the finals. RECAP THE DAY'S NEWS

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August 15, 2019 - 8:07AM

Melbourne could miss out on top draft prospect Matt Rowell if Gold Coast receives a priority draft pick.

Coach Nathan Buckley says Collingwood won’t be tempted to hold back stars Jordan De Goey and Darcy Moore for the finals if they are fit to play in the final round.

With the bye after Round 23, the Magpies could give De Goey and Moore, who are both recovering from hamstring injuries, an extra two weeks to get themselves primed for the team’s September assault.

But Buckley said if the pair were declared fit, they would play in next week’s final-round clash against Essendon at the MCG.

“We want to win every game we play and I think we need to, to give ourselves the best chance of finishing top four,” Buckley said.

“So if we have players available we play them.”

Buckley said De Goey was “not far away” from a return and had plenty of time to prove himself for a return ahead of the final round.

“He is continuing to ramp up with his speed work (yesterday),” Buckley said.

“We were (not sure) whether he was going to get to Round 23 or not and he has still got two or three main sessions to go to prove his fitness for that.”

The Magpies sit fifth on the ladder and are fighting to secure a top-four position in the final two rounds against the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Saturday and the Bombers.

Buckley said every game now was a “qualifying final” for the Pies if they wanted to lock in the double chance.

Updates

STEPHENSON DRIVEN TO MAKE AMENDS

Chris Vernuccio

Teammate Taylor Adams says banned Magpie Jaidyn Stephenson is “in a great place” as he prepares to return from his betting suspension in finals.

Stephenson was slapped with a 10-match ban and fined $20,000 after admitting he bet $36 in total on three Collingwood games.

He has missed eight of those games and is due to return in week one of finals.

Adams said Stephenson was determined to repay the faith upon his return after being sidelined since Round 12.

“He’s in a great place at the moment, Jaidyn,” Adams said on Fox Footy.

“He’s looking forward to getting back and looking forward to making amends for what was a silly mistake.”

The Magpies are hopeful of welcoming back several key players in the next two weeks, with Darcy Moore (hamstring) and Jordan De Goey (hamstring) pushing to be fit for Round 23.

“Darce has been on the track for probably the last 10 days training with the main group and looks really good,” Adams said.

“With the history he has got with his hamstrings and soft tissues there’s a cautious approach that’s been taken.

“Same with Jordy. Such an explosive player with a sore hamstring.

“You have got to be really careful. Maybe if the game was in Melbourne Jordy might be a chance.”

BEVO WARY OF UNPREDICTABLE GIANTS

Chris Vernuccio

The Western Bulldogs don’t know what to expect of the form of GWS or how their ground will play in their clash on Sunday, but one known fact is they need to win.
Sitting outside the top eight in 10th, the Bulldogs can’t lose either of their final two games if they hope to play in September.
They host Adelaide, who are currently ninth and in an equally desperate position, in the final round.
“We can’t afford to slip up and that’s something that’s driving us,” Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said on Thursday.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 104-point win over Essendon, which Beveridge said had energised his team.
The Giants, who sit sixth, were thumped by struggling Hawthorn last round by 56 points but before that had three successive wins including a big win over finals-bound Collingwood.

Beveridge said it was difficult to plan for the Giants clash because he wasn’t sure what they would throw up.
“You talk about coaching teams but Leon (GWS coach Leon Cameron) has coached a lot of different teams this year because they’ve had significant injuries,” Beveridge said.
“There’s some uncertainty this week with their personnel so they will have a different team again so that uncertainty is not always a good thing for the opposition in planning because there’s no foothold on what they’re going to look like and what they’re doing.
“There’s an element of insecurity from our point of view because we don’t know what we’re going to get.”

The Dogs won’t travel to Sydney until Saturday afternoon after having their final training session in Melbourne and will visit Giants Stadium on arrival.

– AAP

PRIORITY PICKS WON'T HELP CLUBS: DEES COACH

Chris Vernuccio

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says the AFL granting priority draft picks is an “archaic” practice which is unlikely to fix issues for struggling clubs.

Gold Coast has formally requested a priority selection at the start of November’s national draft and will send representatives to state the club’s case to the AFL in the coming weeks.

If successful, the last-placed Suns would be given the first two picks, in turn forcing second-from-bottom Melbourne’s first selection back to pick three.

It could mean the Demons miss out on drafting outstanding young Victorian prospects Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson.

“It’s not only us as a club, I think it’s every club,” Goodwin told reporters on Thursday.

“We’re in a position now where we’ve brought in future trading of picks and the priority pick was something that was set up a long, long time ago.

“I think it’s become a bit archaic in its relevance and I think there’s other avenues where we can incentivise teams and bring that equalisation to prevalence.”

The AFL last year gave Gold Coast and Carlton “special assistance” allowances to sign state league players and is considering a range of measures to help out the Suns this year.

Rival clubs have recently expressed their concerns over priority picks to the AFL, questioning the benefits of trading future picks if the deals are later devalued.

“The biggest thing that’s changed with priority picks is the ability to trade future picks and I think, personally, when you’re trading future picks, you shouldn’t have that hanging over your head of a priority pick being in the mix,” Goodwin said.

“I don’t think draft picks at the top end are necessarily the fix for everything.

“And there’s other ways we can incentivise clubs to improve, whether that be middle-of-the-range (selections) through the draft or other avenues.”

Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew refused to buy into the priority pick debate pending an AFL Commission decision on the Suns’ formal request.

– AAP

ROUGHEAD NOT ON SUNS' RADAR

Chris Vernuccio

They speak almost every week but Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew won’t be getting into Hawthorn forward Jarryd Roughead’s ear this Sunday to convince the veteran to join him at the Suns.

Roughead will be playing possibly the final game of his decorated AFL career against the Suns at Marvel Stadium on Sunday,after confirming earlier this week that 2019 would be his final season.

The 32-year-old and Dew played in the Hawks’ 2008 premiership-winning team and are good mates, with many tipping Roughead to move north in an off-field mentoring role.

But Dew said Sunday would not be the time to discuss the future with Roughead.

“He’s well and truly happy with his lot and grateful for what he’s been able to achieve and so he should be,” Dew said.

“I probably speak to him most weeks but I’ll leave him alone this week, he’s got a busy one.”

The success of Luke Hodge’s two-year stint at Brisbane has prompted calls for a similar experienced head being brought to the Gold Coast to assist the growth of the Suns’ young group.

Another Hawk, Shaun Burgoyne, was linked to the Suns while Adelaide veteran Eddie Betts had to hose down rumours earlier this week he would be leaving the Crows at season’s end.

Dew said the club was on the hunt for an experienced head but had yet to identify their best target.

In more immediate matters, off-contract midfielder Jack Martin is poised to return against the Hawks after impressing following his demotion to the reserves last weekend.

The Suns have also announced youngster Will Brodie along with Caleb Graham, Darcy MacPherson and Jez McLennan have all signed new deals committing them to the club until the end of 2022.

– AAP

SLOANE TO PLAY PIES

Chris Vernuccio

Adelaide co-captain Rory Sloane says he will play in the must-win game against Collingwood at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

Sloane was in doubt after copping a bad knock to his right eye from friendly fire from teammate Matt Crouch early in the third quarter of last Sunday’s 10-point loss to West Coast in Perth.

GOODWIN'S FIXTURE SOLUTION

Chris Vernuccio

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin can see the benefit of expanding the floating fixture to include multiple rounds at the end of the AFL home-and-away season to avoid dead rubbers in marquee timeslots.

The Demons host Sydney at the MCG on Friday night in a contest that will have no bearing on the make-up of the top eight, with both sides well out of finals contention.

It is one of five standalone night matches Melbourne was scheduled to feature in this season as reward for last year’s rise up the ladder.

“This year’s performance clearly hasn’t been to the level that we would’ve liked, so I can understand why they may think that (we don’t deserve another Friday night match),” Goodwin said.

“In the end, it’s an opportunity for us on the national stage to play well. “I can certainly see why it (expanding the floating fixture) would be something that they would look at.

“But at the same time, we got this fixture based on our performances last year.” The AFL has left the final home-and-away round as a floating fixture in recent seasons in order to work out schedules that will maximise supporters’ interest leading into finals.

This year’s final round fixtures were finalised more than three weeks out, giving clubs plenty of time to prepare for their matches.

“Once you know, you can plan your weeks accordingly,” Goodwin said.

“The floating fixture for round 23 hasn’t impacted if you know early enough.” Despite them being out of the finals equation, Goodwin insisted there was still plenty for Melbourne to play for over the last two weeks of the home-and-away season.

– AAP

Buckley confirms Sier reports

Chris Vernuccio

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has confirmed Brayden Sier played a basketball game while injured.

Sier reportedly took part in the match under the alias "Phill Inn".

"It was blue from a young player. He made a couple of errors in the whole situation. 1) to play the game and 2) trying to sweep it under the carpet.," Buckley said.

"We’ll deal with that appropriately and accordingly but at the moment we’ve got a game to prepare for on Saturday."

FAGAN 'GLAD' ROUGHY GIVEN FAREWELL

Michael Randall

-TIM MICHELL

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan will rush from a scouting mission on Sunday to ensure he makes Jarryd Roughead’s farewell game for Hawthorn.

Former Hawks football boss Fagan said he shared a special bond with Roughead, who has been re-called for his last AFL game against Gold Coast after spending much of the season in the VFL.

“I am keen to go down on Sunday to have a look at the West Coast-Richmond game because we play the Tigers in Round 23,” Fagan said on Fox Footy.

“That’s a one o’clock game. I think Roughy’s game is on at about 4.40pm, so I am going to make my way down to Marvel Stadium and have one last look at the big fellow.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Fagan said Roughead was a “favourite” of his and he had remained in regular contact with the 32-year-old.

“He’s a wonderful person. We all know his story,” he said.

“He’s just been so good for the Hawthorn Football Club. He has always been very friendly towards me, taken an interest in what we are doing up here at Brisbane.

“We chat on the phone from time to time and he’s done a lot for that football club.

“I’m just so glad he’s getting the opportunity to play one last game for the club that he loves so much.”

-LAUREN WOOD

Daisy Pearce has rejoined her teammates in training as her return to AFLW edges closer.

The star Demon – who gave birth to twins Sylvie and Roy just over five months ago – had been engaging in strength and conditioning training but has now rejoined the main group as she eyes a berth in AFLW04.

And she says missing last season has only made her more grateful to be back on the road to her return.

"Being pregnant was almost like feeling semi-retired, because you had it taken away from you," Pearce said.

"It made me realise just how much I love playing footy and ove this group. So to get back out here and be the subject of all their jokes and banter feels like a piece of me is back restored again."

The 31-year-old – a two-time AFLW All-Australian and double Demons best and fairest winner – said she still had "a lot of work to do" but that the "rust" was starting to dissipate.

Her mindset has required a shift, too.

"In years gone by I probably was really competitive and wanting to hit preseason the fittest and win things," Pearce told the club website.

"I'm probably going to have to think about it and use the preseason to get match fit. I've got a long way to go, but I'm pretty pleased with where I'm at considering I've had the babies.

"I'm probably a little bit ahead of where I thought I'd be at this stage, so going well."

She isn't the only AFLW star to ramp up preparations, with two-time league best and fairest winner Erin Phillips today revealing that she had started jogging in her recovery from her second knee reconstruction.

Pearce, 31, admits she "probably underestimated how busy I'd be" with the twins in tow.

"I don't know what I used to do with all my spare time, and training prep has got a whole new look now."

DAISY'S BACK AFTER TWIN BUBS

Michael Randall

-LAUREN WOOD

Daisy Pearce has rejoined her teammates in training as her return to AFLW edges closer.

And she says missing last season has only made her more grateful to be back on the road to her return.

"Being pregnant was almost like feeling semi-retired, because you had it taken away from you," Pearce said.

"It made me realise just how much I love playing footy and ove this group. So to get back out here and be the subject of all their jokes and banter feels like a piece of me is back restored again."

The 31-year-old – a two-time AFLW All-Australian and double Demons best and fairest winner – said she still had "a lot of work to do" but that the "rust" was starting to dissipate.

Her mindset has required a shift, too.

"In years gone by I probably was really competitive and wanting to hit preseason the fittest and win things," Pearce told the club website.

"I'm probably going to have to think about it and use the preseason to get match fit. I've got a long way to go, but I'm pretty pleased with where I'm at considering I've had the babies.

"I'm probably a little bit ahead of where I thought I'd be at this stage, so going well."

Pearce, 31, admits she "probably underestimated how busy I'd be" with the twins in tow.

"I don't know what I used to do with all my spare time, and training prep has got a whole new look now."

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AFL Daily: Collingwood won't hold back Jordan De Goey and Darcy Moore if fit to play

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