Collingwood captain Darcy Moore has declared himself fully fit more than a week out from the Magpies’ qualifying final blockbuster against Melbourne.
Moore says his hamstring injury has healed and he will return to the Magpies backline next Thursday night at the MCG, while Nick Daicos is “pretty close” to a return from a fracture in his knee.
The Magpies skipper did not offer a timeline on the Brownlow Medal contender’s recovery, but said teammates were “excited” by his progress.
“(Daicos) is pretty close, he’s moving pretty well, and we’re excited to see how quickly he can recover,” Moore said.
“I’m 100 per cent good to go. Absolutely (I’ll play), I’m feeling great – I’ve had a great training block for a couple of weeks and I’ve still got a few sessions to go before the game, so I’m already feeling really good.”
Moore said the two-week break from playing after he picked up the minor injury in the round 22 win over Geelong had freshened him up physically and mentally ahead of the finals series.
He said the Pies had been working behind the scenes to improve deficiencies in their game all season, and not just in the last month as their form fell away.
“We’ve obviously put together such a consistent season, banking 18 wins and finishing on top of the ladder,” he said.
“Team defence is one of those things (we discussed) in the last few weeks, and we addressed it pretty emphatically on Friday night, giving up about two goals to three quarter time.
“We’re confident our best footy is ahead of us and we’re going to bring it.”
Moore said there would be some “stiff individuals” at the selection table as the Pies prepare to face the Demons with only Nick Daicos missing from their best side, while he played down the significance of last year’s one-point preliminary final loss to Sydney as a motivating force for his teammates.
“It feels like a lot of time has passed since that devastating result,” Moore said.
“We were riding the wave last year of some great momentum, winning 11 or 12 games in a row was really exciting … this year feels like a new challenge, but there’s plenty of guys in the team with experience from last year, so we’ll definitely draw on that in the next month.”
Collingwood’s AFLW team is also preparing to face the Demons in a blockbuster season opener at Ikon Park on Friday night.
Captain Brianna Davey confirmed she would play her first game in almost 18 months after recovering from a ruptured ACL, along with vice-captain Britt Bonnici
“It will feel a bit surreal running out, it’s been almost a year and a half now since I’ve played a game,” Davey said.
“It’s been a long time for all of us really, so we’re just excited to get out there and play against one of the best teams in the comp.”
