Collingwood could have a number of injury concerns ahead of the AFL grand final with captain Darcy Moore sporting a nasty blow after Friday night’s win over the GWS Giants.
The Magpies held on for a heart-stopping one-point victory to book their spot in next week’s premiership decider, but have a few sore bodies from the bruising encounter.
And while much of the injury talk will centre on Dan McStay, who was subbed off with a knee problem, Channel 7 cameras also picked up a concerning image of Moore.
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The Collingwood captain’s right ankle had swollen up massively, and while he could play out the game, it could be some concern heading into next week.
But despite the nasty swelling, Moore was not concerned in the slightest.
Darcy Moore’s nasty ankle injury. Credit: Channel 7Darcy Moore celebrates after the Pies’ preliminary final win. Credit: Getty Images
“It’ll be right. It’ll live in an ice bucket for a couple of days but it’ll be right,” Moore told Channel 7 after the game.
7NEWS Melbourne reporter Tom Browne added: “Darcy Moore’s foot, which we saw blow up, I spoke to Peter, his dad … Darcy will play next week, rain, hail or shine. You can usually settle those down during the week. There was a degree of swelling, he ran out of the game,” he said.
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Browne also said veteran defender Jeremy Howe could be headed for scans on a calf injury.
“We saw Jeremy Howe walk out. I think he has a corked calf. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a scan in the morning,” Browne siad.
“No major concerns at the moment, hopefully there is no anything there, but they’ll be sweating on that a bit as well.”
But the biggest concern is for McStay, who is looming as the heartbreak story of this year.
The big forward was shattered post-match as teammates appeared to console him in the immediate aftermath of the victory.
Taylor Adams, who injured his hamstring and missed the preliminary final win over the Giants, will be doing everything he can to prove his fitness.
The minor premiers were held goalless in the second quarter and trailed by as much as 17 points during the third.
But Collingwood, who will meet the Brisbane Lions or Carlton in the September 30 decider, stood up when the game was on the line despite losing McStay.
McStay kicked two goals before he was subbed out of the match at three-quarter time and Mason Cox booted the Magpies’ only major of a tense final term.
The narrow win in front of 97,665 fans was a reversal of last season’s one-point loss to Sydney in a preliminary final.
“We’ve got ourselves in this position and we’re really proud of our journey,” second-year coach Craig McRae said.
“Two years of doing one-on-one fight drills, we do it every session … I don’t know how many hours that is but you saw some of those contests in the last quarter and how much we’d rehearsed those moments.
“We sit on this and take a little bit of a breath and be really proud of what we’ve achieved so far.”
– With AAP
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