Collingwood coach to get creative after injury to frontline ruckman Darcy Cameron

After trading Brodie Grundy to Melbourne an injury to frontline ruckman Darcy Cameron has left Collingwood coach Craig McRae with a problem to solve.

Darcy Cameron of the Magpies (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Collingwood coach Craig McRae admits he will probably have to be “creative” when nutting out who will take on rucking duties for the unbeaten Magpies for the foreseeable future.

Darcy Cameron has joined Mason Cox (rib haematoma) on the sidelines after suffering a suspected high grade MCL against the Tigers, potentially ruling him out for “a significant period”.

The latest injury blow has left the Pies light on for ruck options, but McRae wouldn’t rule out using Billy Frampton in the role, even after the former Crow produced a stellar performance in defence, keeping Richmond spearhead Tom Lynch to one goal at the MCG on Friday night as Collingwood won by 14-points.

Frampton played in the ruck in his time with Adelaide and Port Adelaide.

“Potentially, yeah. At the right time and against certain opposition ... that’s something that may come up,” McRae said.

“I half-joked with (small forward) Jamie (Elliott) on the way out that he might be rucking next week.

“We’ve got a few things up our sleeve.”

Billy Frampton could be Collingwood’s new ruckman (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

With untried Aiden Begg (back) also unavailable, another potential debutant Oscar Steene, 19, could be looked at.

“I’m rapt with how he’s developing,” McRae said.

“I’ve always believed with my development hat on that we set people up to succeed and we’ll have to weigh up whether that’s the case with him, whether it’s too early. It’s not impossible.”

McRae also saw no reason why Jack Ginnivan couldn’t play in the same forward line as fellow smalls Bobby Hill and Beau McCreery.

Ginnivan was set to make his competitive return via the VFL on the weekend after serving a two-week suspension for drug use.

Star defender Jeremy Howe suffered a setback recently in his recovery from a broken arm, with an infection setting in, which required another trip to hospital and additional medical intervention.

But in positive news, McRae revealed it wasn’t impacting the actual injury.

“The bone itself is healing,” McRae said.

Despite being installed as premiership favourites and starting a season 3-0 for the first time since 2011 – a year in which they made a grand final – McRae insisted his Magpies still had a long way to go before being considered the finished product.

“I like to think our best days are tomorrow,” McRae said.

“Why would we put a ceiling on ourselves or look for perfection? It’s a word I actually don’t like, trying to be perfect, it means you’re finished. We’re far from that, we’ve got a long way to go.

“There’s major parts of our game that we’re still tinkering with.”

Collingwood coach Craig McRae (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Meanwhile Richmond look set to receive a massive boost for their huge clash against fellow top-eight aspirants the Western Bulldogs next week with Dustin Martin, Jacob Hopper and Jayden Short all set to return.

The star trio missed the Tigers’ 14-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG with hamstring, knee and calf injuries respectively.

However, coach Damien Hardwick was “confident” that he would have access to all three players for Round 4.

And in a further boost, veteran Richmond defender Robbie Tarrant was due to play a half in the VFL on the weekend after having his start to the season delayed by a hip complaint.

Originally published as Collingwood coach to get creative after injury to frontline ruckman Darcy Cameron