Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey ‘Hail Mary’ on track as forward trains for first time since German trip

Jordan De Goey was all smiles after returning to Collingwood training on Monday, while Darcy Moore declared he has full faith in his troublesome hamstrings.

Jordan De Goey’s return was a welcome sight for Collingwood. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images.

Collingwood forward Jordan De Goey has returned to training eight days after departing for a fleeting trip to Germany to receive treatment from a world-renowned hamstring injury specialist.

While De Goey has been ruled out of a preliminary final return against Greater Western Sydney on Saturday, his impressive progress has fuelled hopes the star forward would be fit for a potential grand final appearance next week if the Magpies can overcome the Giants.

De Goey flew to Germany and back within seven days to meet with hamstring guru Dr Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, after suffering another hamstring strain in the Magpies’ qualifying final win over Geelong.

Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury said while De Goey had already been ruled out a return this week, he was recovering as expected after returning to main training and moving well.

“I think it’s been about two weeks so, to be honest, most guys who do a hammy sort of get going at this stage anyway,” Pendlebury said.

“I think it’s just the fact that he’s been over to Germany and everyone knows that it’s going to be a big story. We’ve not worried about that too much this week. We’ve got a big game in front of us this week that we need to take care of and all our focuses will be on that.”

Jordan De Goey was all smiles after training with the main group on Monday. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images.

Pushed further on how De Goey’s treatment in Germany had gone, Pendlebury gave little away.

“I don’t have a medical degree so there’s no point asking me,” he said.

“I haven’t really spoken to him too much. Maybe we’ll get the doc up after this and you can grill him.”

De Goey would enter a Grand Final having played just 30 minutes of competitive football in 62 days.

Fellow forward Ben Reid — who has not played a senior game since Round 15 — has been flagged as a possible replacement for De Goey, despite playing just seven senior games this year.

Jordan De Goey’s return was a welcome sight for Collingwood. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images.

“He’s going really well,” Pendlebury said of Reid.

“He played that VFL game against Geelong a couple of weeks ago and then we had a good hit out Friday night. So Reidy’s done all he can to put his hand up and I suppose it’s up to the coaches to figure out what balance they want to go with in the side.”

Meanwhile, Darcy Moore says he has full faith in his troublesome hamstrings to help him deliver on Saturday’s preliminary final stage against Greater Western Sydney.

The athletic defender also maintained his long-term future was at Collingwood.

Moore hauled in six contested marks against Geelong in the qualifying final, a contest he described yesterday as “obviously the biggest game of my career so far”.

He had left the ground in the last quarter against Essendon in Round 23 but regained confidence in his body again by “red-lining” at full intensity during a two-week training block.

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The Pies centre half-back said his bad run of injuries — seven hamstring issues since the start of 2017 — were all physical and not from worrying too much about hurting his leg again.

“When you have had seven hamstring strains you are always trying to pick up on signs earlier than other guys,” he said.

“I have been managed with my program pretty closely and it’s the extension of that so it’s worked out really well.

Darcy Moore, Levi Greenwood and Jordan De Goey celebrate Collingwood’s qualifying final win.

“I juts had a little bit of tightness and awareness (against Essendon) and the physios decided to call it and rest up for the final in two weeks. It worked out really well and I feel great.”

The 23-year-old has played 16 games this year and his stunning marking prowess against Geelong again saw pundits wonder if he can become one of the game’s best defenders.

“It was awesome. It was obviously the biggest game of my career so far,” Moore said.

Moore was able to fly at the ball with no restrictions, as Geelong’s slow ball movement also allowed him the flexibility to take risks in the air.

GWS not only moves the ball with greater speed, it has a trio of tall targets in Jeremy Cameron, Harry Himmelberg and Jeremy Finlayson.

Moore said he had always wanted to stay at Collingwood despite links to Sydney last year and a report linking him to the Western Bulldogs in recent months.

“It’s interesting, isn’t it. I get spotted in a cafe in a suburb and all of a sudden I am getting traded,” he said.

“I am stoked and super excited to be here and it is a great club and we have got a huge following and we are feeling the love the last couple of weeks and I am sure we will feel it this week.”