Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says Harry O'Brien won't play this week

COLLINGWOOD has decided not to play troubled defender Harry O'Brien again this week.

COLLINGWOOD has decided not to play troubled defender Harry O'Brien again this week.

Coach Nathan Buckley said O'Brien, who has missed the past two games, won't return to the team for Saturday's game on the Gold Coast or play in the VFL team at Geelong on Friday night.

"Harry won't play this week. He has obviously been quite public with the issues he's dealing with at the moment. As a club, we support him absolutely,'' Buckley said.

"Along with the expert advice from the people he's working with and our doctors, we'll find the right time for him. It's not really a timeframe issue, it's just when our players are right to play.

"It's easy if you're got a calf (injury) or a hamstring, but there are other issues that you need to get right to be ready to play four quarters, intense football. The ups and downs and the resilience required, so we're supporting Harry through the period at the moment and respect the fact that football might not be the thing he needs to be doing right now.''

Buddy no certainty to play

O'Brien was one of the most energetic Magpies in the match practice drills at Olympic Park today and there's no issue with his fitness.

Harry O'Brien

"All you ever see is the facade, to be honest. We did with a lot of things internally that don't come out and shouldn't come out. This has and you would be none the wiser otherwise. Players all through the league deal with issues," Buckley said.

"They're humans, they're not robots, they're more than footballers and we treat them as such and that's important to consider in this circumstance."

Magpies assistant coach Matthew Lappin approached the AFL umpiring department this week on the issue of key forward Travis Cloke being free kicked in marking contests.

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"Matty Lappin has got some edits together. It was probably only one or two contests at the weekend. Maybe he wins his contest by too much and a little bit of that is Clokey's want to once he has a player out of position to continue to have that player out of position before coming back to the ball,'' Buckley said.

"We're working continually with Trav to get that right, but Matty Lappin our forwards coach has contacted the umpiring department and we've got a few tips and we'll work on them.''

Travis Cloke

Buckley wouldn't divulge whether tall defender Lachlan Keeffe would return, allowing the flexibility to play Ben Reid forward again.

"He (Reid) will definitely play forward at times, but he has cut his teeth as a defender and that's where he plays his best football for us. That's where we're structured up best when he's playing his role well as a key back in tandem with Nathan Brown,'' he said.

"We do have Lachie Keeffe in the wings and we do see that as a legitimate alternative that may release Reidy forward. At this stage, Reid and Brown are our key backs.''

Best-and-fairest winner Dayne Beams has pulled up well after his first AFL game and Buckley said he would continue on a program to protect the repaired quad muscle.

"When the game was on the line he stood up again. A couple of assists, contested ball and important clearances and he has run the game out strongly. Off the back of some solid training form before he was released to play.
He's a very strong player, good ball winner and he adds to our mix and makes us better when he's up and about,'' he said.

"We're very conscious that he hasn't had a lot of footy and we want to manage that as much as we can. We like to think we can manage that with the quality of our football efficiency as much as anything.''

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Brent Macaffer is an option for the Magpies as Gold Coast skipper Gary Ablett's opponent on Saturday afternoon.

"It's an option. Caff the last couple of weeks has been really good forward for us. We've played him as a defender and a run-with. We've deliberately moved that around so we've not so predictable, so I'm not going to give you the answer,'' the coach said.

"Some of their (Suns') performances have been standout exceptional. They've got some really dangerous run and carry players, they've got the best player in the competition in the side and probably the best young player. So there's some strengths we've got to be wary of.''