Jamie Elliott to sign new Magpies deal despite surgery to impact on livewire forward’s pre-season

JAMIE Elliott will sign a new contract to stay at Collingwood despite hamstring surgery on Tuesday that will again impact his pre-season.

Jamie Elliott runs with the ball during a training session at Holden Centre in July. Picture: Getty Images

JAMIE Elliott will sign a new contract to stay at Collingwood despite hamstring surgery on Tuesday that will again impact his pre-season.

The Herald Sun understands the livewire forward will sign a new deal in the near future, with more contract talks scheduled later this week with the Pies.

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Elliott has not played a single game this year after a series of ankle and hamstring issues but at his best is one of the AFL’s most dynamic small forwards.

Delayed ankle surgery put back his 2018 pre-season, with Elliott then suffering a series of repeat hamstring injuries that effectively wiped out his year.

The Pies have a tight salary cap and are attempting to lure Gold Coast’s Tom Lynch and Steven May.

But they are also well aware of Elliott’s exciting talents and capacity to play in their new-look forward line involving a bevy of lightning-fast medium-sized forwards.

Jamie Elliott has not played a single game this year after a series of ankle and hamstring issues. Picture: Getty Images

The Pies seem destined to lose free agent Alex Fasolo over the summer given rival interest from clubs including Carlton, with Fasolo playing regular VFL football this year.

Elliott’s 2016 season was also wiped out with back issues that he has since overcome, kicking 34.16 from 17 games last year.

At just 25 a shorter-term contract with incentives built in would give him the capacity to sign a lucrative contract at the peak of his powers.

Elliott, 26 next Tuesday, has always been keen to remain at the club but given his recent injury history had been keen to prove his upside, with surgery instead curtailing his season.

The Pies on Tuesday ruled out Jeremy Howe for the third week in a row with a badly corked thigh that continues to linger, the Pies missing the most games this year from players in their best 22.

Ben Reid also hurt his calf on the weekend in the VFL, with the Pies backline of Tom Langdon, Jack Crisp, Brayden Maynard and Jack Magden holding up well against Brisbane.

Pies football boss Geoff Walsh said on Tuesday Collingwood would take a slow and methodical route with Elliott’s latest injury setback.

Darcy Moore is just one of several Magpies to be struck down during the season by soft tissue injuries.

“Jamie had surgery today on the hamstring he injured,” Collingwood football manager Geoff Walsh said.

“We thought it’s probably wisest to tip him out of training right now, get it fixed and undergo a long, steady rehab process.

“We won’t see Jamie for the rest of the year.”

Collingwood has had a spate of soft tissue injuries to players including Elliott, Darcy Moore, Ben Reid and Josh Smith and has worked hard to identify the reasons behind those injuries.

The club has checked off the hardness of their Holden Centre surface after concerns and will be keen to find out the underlying causes of those issues after a poor injury run going back several years.

Collingwood can still jump from fifth place into the top four if they beat Port Adelaide (MCG) and Fremantle (Optus Stadium) and fourth-placed Hawthorn loses to St Kilda this week or Sydney (SCG) in Round 23.

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