Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says talk of an injury crisis at the club as overblown amid calls for the Magpies to conduct a review into their lengthy injury list. RECAP THE DAY'S NEWS
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says talk of an injury crisis at the club as overblown as the team aims to arrest its “coughing and spluttering” form against the Gold Coast.
There have been calls for the Magpies to conduct a review into their lengthy injury list that has contributed to the team’s fall from second on the ladder to sixth.
Jordan De Goey (hamstring) and Isaac Quaynor (foot stress reaction) were the latest additions this week to an injury list that also includes Darcy Moore (hamstring), Tom Langdon (knee), Ben Reid (hamstring) and Daniel Wells (knee).
Buckley played down the Magpies’ mounting injury toll and said the team should be performing better than it had been with the players it had available.
“I think that it’s been overblown in some shape or form,” Buckley said.
“We’ve got some soft-tissue concerns, but I don’t think ours are any more major than others.
“We’ve got some other boys that have had some knee or hip issues and some other non-footy related ones. We have got some access to some more boys this week and hopefully build over that next month for us.“I would encourage anyone to just have a look a little bit deeper. We would love to have 45 players available all of the time. That’s utopia and that’s what we are heading towards.
“It’s hard to sit here as a coach and say that it’s acceptable … but we can make do with what we have got and we should be performing better than we are at the moment.”
The Magpies are set to regain Taylor Adams (hamstring awareness) and defender Jordan Roughead (concussion) for the clash against the Suns at the MCG.Buckley declared there was “no risk” with Roughead playing this weekend even though he was left so dazed in last week’s loss to Richmond that he was believed to have said “what the hell is Bevo doing”, thinking he was playing for his old club, the Western Bulldogs.
“He has gone through the normal protocols, we have had a nine-day break ultimately so there is no risks with Jordan playing this week,” Buckley said.
“Roughy is good. He is with it. He was kicking left-foot (at training), I said ‘Do you realise you are a right-footer?’ and he goes ‘Yeah, yeah I am just practising with my left foot’.”
Buckley said last week’s loss to the Tigers showed the gap between the Magpies and the best in the competition, but was confident the team had time to turn its form around before finals.
“It’s extremely important to continue to get a sense of what sort of football we’re playing and find that connection on field that is clearly coughing and spluttering at the moment,” he said.
“We have four games of home-and-away left and our challenge is to improve our football and get it to a point where we are comfortable and believing in or own skins that we can play against the best sides and right now we are not there.
“Three weeks ago we beat West Coast over there and that seemed like a strong performance … but our last two performances, in particular last week against Richmond who are the form side of the comp, showed us the gap between the best and where we are at the moment.
“The good new is that we are not going into an elimination final and we have got time and we’re pretty clear on where our growth areas are.”
LACHIE YOUNG reports…
Jordan Clark is one cool customer.
Whether on the field or off it, there is seemingly nothing that fazes him.
If that wasn’t evident in his first JLT Series match against the reigning premiers, West Coast, back in March, then it has been made abundantly clear in his first seventeen games at AFL level.
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says he has smoothed the waters with Colin Young after the player agent had raised concerns about the AFL club.
Young created a storm when he criticised the way Fremantle rehabilitates players who are injured.
He said the club would go nowhere if it didn’t address the issue, but Lyon said he had a good talk with Young on Thursday and there was no animosity.
– AAP
… tea?
Giants veteran Brett Deledio was a star junior cricketer, so there's no surprise he was up and about when the Ashes started last night.
But what's that in his hand? VB tea?!
Nice to know 'Lids' hasn't forgotten his roots.
MICK WARNER reports…
“Frankie”, the Carlton fan ejected from Marvel Stadium for calling an umpire a “bald-headed flog”, has scored a victory over the AFL.
But AFL chief Gillon McLachlan today said he wouldn’t be saying sorry to “Frankie”.
“No, I haven’t apologised,” he said on 3AW.
REBECCA WILLIAMS writes…
AMY Burgoyne says her husband Shaun considers it an “honour” to have his name mentioned alongside Sydney great Adam Goodes.
The Hawthorn champion will tonight play his 373rd game and break Goodes’ record for the most games played in the AFL by an indigenous player when the Hawks take on North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.
The mum-of-four said 36-year-old Burgoyne did not want to take anything away from good friend Goodes and considered the record even more special because it was held by the dual Brownlow medallist.
“He loves ‘Goodesy’, he is a good friend of his and by no means does he want to take anything away from Goodsey,” Amy told the Herald Sun yesterday.
“(It’s significant) especially because Goodesy is definitely someone that Shaun looked up to … so Shaun said just to be recognised alongside his name is just an honour in itself.
“I think it is just something that he — and also all the other indigenous players and indigenous communities — just want to celebrate.”
Amy said the four-time premiership star was generally not one to make a “fuss over himself”, but the family was determined to make sure the milestone was celebrated properly.
“He has been really low-key this week and hasn’t said too much,” she said.
“So that’s why the club and myself got together and organised a surprise for him on Monday because he really doesn’t like to make a big deal for himself.
“It’s pretty big. When he got to 200 we thought that was massive, then we got to 250, 300 and then 350 last year was just amazing.
“To get the indigenous record … when you stop to think about how actually big it is, I could not be more proud of him.”
Amy will be at the game to celebrate the record-breaking game with family and friends and the couple’s four children — Ky, 13, Percy, 10, Leni, 7 and Nixie, 3.
“It will be emotional, I’m just getting emotional talking about it,” she said.
“It has been a lot of organising and planning just with family and friends, but I think once he runs out I will definitely have a tear in my eye.
“It’s an amazing achievement that he has done for football and for his people.”
By Andrew Hamilton
Opposition clubs are starting to talk about the difficulty of raiding Fortress Gabba – and Lions coach Fagan doesn’t like it.
Brisbane play the Western Bulldogs on Sunday and their coach Luke Beveridge conceded times had changed in Brisbane and the Gabba crowd was now a factor his side had to prepare for.
Once nicknamed the Gabbattoir, the ground has once again become a slaughterhouse for visiting teams with the shocking Easter Thursday blowout loss to Collingwood the only blemish.
The Lions have played five of their last seven games on the road and can now enjoy a three week stint on their own deck.
A clean sweep would secure a top four finish and the double chance in September.
While everyone at the club is happy to be spared another plane trip for a few weeks, Fagan can see some hidden dangers in the comforts of home.
“I’m happy but wary,’’ he said.
“It can easily be 'we're at home now, we're right, we always win at the Gabba'".
“That's not the attitude.
“All of our games at the Gabba this year have not been easy games, they've been tight games.
“Teams come up here and throw everything at us, we expect that this weekend.
“It's not an opportunity for us to take a rest, it's just another game we've got to play, at our ground which is a bit of an advantage, but it's only a little advantage.
“We have to bring the right effort.”
The common theme of many of those Gabba wins has been Brisbane’s ability to come from behind the claim the points.
Fagan attributes it to the belief the side has in their game style and in each other and says while he would prefer better starts, the ability to hang in games when things aren’t going their way or to fight back, was the sign of a good team.
“It's a real commitment among our group that we've worked on for a long time now, to keep on keeping on, even when things aren't going your way, because things will turn,’’ he said.
“They have now got enough evidence that that's the way it works, that they can do that and understand they can get back into games.
“We had that in our first game this year against West Coast, we were 30-odd points down at quarter-time and managed to get up and win that game.
“The belief started there. We've had a few instances like that this year where we've been able to do that.
“As a coach I'd rather we start well and not have to do that.
“It's good to be able to come from behind as well, it's something good teams can do.’’
By Andrew Hamilton
Opposition clubs are starting to talk about the difficulty of raiding Fortress Gabba – and Lions coach Fagan doesn’t like it.
Brisbane play the Western Bulldogs on Sunday and their coach Luke Beveridge conceded times had changed in Brisbane and the Gabba crowd was now a factor his side had to prepare for.
Once nicknamed the Gabbattoir, the ground has once again become a slaughterhouse for visiting teams with the shocking Easter Thursday blowout loss to Collingwood the only blemish.
The Lions have played five of their last seven games on the road and can now enjoy a three week stint on their own deck.
A clean sweep would secure a top four finish and the double chance in September.
While everyone at the club is happy to be spared another plane trip for a few weeks, Fagan can see some hidden dangers in the comforts of home.
“I’m happy but wary,’’ he said.
“It can easily be 'we're at home now, we're right, we always win at the Gabba'".
“That's not the attitude.
“All of our games at the Gabba this year have not been easy games, they've been tight games.
“Teams come up here and throw everything at us, we expect that this weekend.
“It's not an opportunity for us to take a rest, it's just another game we've got to play, at our ground which is a bit of an advantage, but it's only a little advantage.
“We have to bring the right effort.”
The common theme of many of those Gabba wins has been Brisbane’s ability to come from behind the claim the points.
Fagan attributes it to the belief the side has in their game style and in each other and says while he would prefer better starts, the ability to hang in games when things aren’t going their way or to fight back, was the sign of a good team.
“It's a real commitment among our group that we've worked on for a long time now, to keep on keeping on, even when things aren't going your way, because things will turn,’’ he said.
“They have now got enough evidence that that's the way it works, that they can do that and understand they can get back into games.
“We had that in our first game this year against West Coast, we were 30-odd points down at quarter-time and managed to get up and win that game.
“The belief started there. We've had a few instances like that this year where we've been able to do that.
“As a coach I'd rather we start well and not have to do that.
“It's good to be able to come from behind as well, it's something good teams can do.’’
By Rebecca Williams
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has declared talk of the club's injury crisis as "overblown" as he indicated Taylor Adams and Jordan Roughead were ready for a return against Gold Coast on Sunday.
Buckley played down the Magpies' lengthy injury list and said the team should be performing better than it was with the players it had available.
"I think that it's been overblown in some shape or form," Buckley said.
"We've got some soft-tissue concerns, but I don't think ours are any more major than others.
"We've got some other boys that have had some knee or hip issues and some other non-footy related ones. We have got some access to some more boys this week and hopefully build over that next month for us."
Buckley conceded the number of injuries at the club was not acceptable for any coach, but suggested calls for an inquiry into the crisis were premature.
"I think you have got to have one (an injury crisis first)," Buckley said.
"If you really dig a little bit deeper, I would encourage anyone to just have a look a little bit deeper, we would love to have 45 players available all of the time. That's eutopia and that's what we are heading towards. That's what we have discussions around.
"It's hard to sit here as a coach and say that it's acceptable because we want to have 45 players, but we can make do with what we have got and we should be performing better than we are at the moment."
Buckley said Adams had trained well today and there was no risk associated with playing Roughead after he was concussed last week.
Adams, who has played only six senior games this year, missed last week's loss to Richmond with a hamstring niggle.
"He (Adams) trained well, so he has just got to pull up from the session and that will be the final all-clear," Buckley said.
"Roughy is good. He is with it. He was kicking left-foot, I said 'Do you realise you are a right-footer?' and he goes 'Yeah, yeah I am just practising with my left foot'.
"He has gone through the normal protocols, we have had a nine-day break ultimately so there is no risks with Jordan playing this week."
Buckley believed under-performing big man Mason Cox had showed signs of turning his form around in recent weeks.
"I stand here and get a question about him most weeks. But his contest in the last couple of weeks has been a lot better," Buckley said.
"He is very clear on the expectations of him in his role and he cares more about what is said in there (the club) than anywhere else"
Buckley said ti was unclear if Jordan De Goey would be back next week and it was also too early to say if Dayne Beams would be able to make a return this season.
By Rebecca Williams
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has declared talk of the club's injury crisis as "overblown" as he indicated Taylor Adams and Jordan Roughead were ready for a return against Gold Coast on Sunday.
Buckley played down the Magpies' lengthy injury list and said the team should be performing better than it was with the players it had available.
"I think that it's been overblown in some shape or form," Buckley said.
"We've got some soft-tissue concerns, but I don't think ours are any more major than others.
"We've got some other boys that have had some knee or hip issues and some other non-footy related ones. We have got some access to some more boys this week and hopefully build over that next month for us."
Buckley conceded the number of injuries at the club was not acceptable for any coach, but suggested calls for an inquiry into the crisis were premature.
"I think you have got to have one (an injury crisis first)," Buckley said.
"If you really dig a little bit deeper, I would encourage anyone to just have a look a little bit deeper, we would love to have 45 players available all of the time. That's eutopia and that's what we are heading towards. That's what we have discussions around.
"It's hard to sit here as a coach and say that it's acceptable because we want to have 45 players, but we can make do with what we have got and we should be performing better than we are at the moment."
Buckley said Adams had trained well today and there was no risk associated with playing Roughead after he was concussed last week.
Adams, who has played only six senior games this year, missed last week's loss to Richmond with a hamstring niggle.
"He (Adams) trained well, so he has just got to pull up from the session and that will be the final all-clear," Buckley said.
"Roughy is good. He is with it. He was kicking left-foot, I said 'Do you realise you are a right-footer?' and he goes 'Yeah, yeah I am just practising with my left foot'.
"He has gone through the normal protocols, we have had a nine-day break ultimately so there is no risks with Jordan playing this week."
Buckley believed under-performing big man Mason Cox had showed signs of turning his form around in recent weeks.
"I stand here and get a question about him most weeks. But his contest in the last couple of weeks has been a lot better," Buckley said.
"He is very clear on the expectations of him in his role and he cares more about what is said in there (the club) than anywhere else"
Buckley said ti was unclear if Jordan De Goey would be back next week and it was also too early to say if Dayne Beams would be able to make a return this season.
TRADE NEWS: Shai Bolton’s emergence as a Richmond firestarter has rivals eagerly assessing his interest in moving clubs.
But while talks will take place at year’s end, Bolton is happy at Richmond and in no mood to genuinely assess the market.
His manager Ralph Carr will broker that deal, and also has out-of-contract ruckman Mabior Chol doing some exciting things in the senior side.
