Veteran full-back Jeremy Howe, rested against the Cats, will return, while Ed Allan, Lachlan Sullivan and Oleg Markov – emergencies against the Cats – are firmly in contention for senior selection. Youngster Charlie West will also make the trip to Perth and, according to McRae, is “in the mix” to debut, but he has been nursing a “minor” foot issue.
Having a break: Scott Pendlebury.Credit: via Getty Images
De Goey is a concern for the Magpies, the robust forward-midfielder using a match-free weekend to work on his fitness, after a pre-season disrupted by a groin and abdominal issue that prompted him to seek treatment in Doha.
“We are one step forward, one step back with Jordy at the moment. We would like to be going a bit faster than what we are with him, but we have got to play the long game,” McRae said.
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“We have patience. We are asking our Collingwood faithful to have a bit of patience because the plan is to get him going in the coming weeks, and this is part of that.”
Where Patrick Dangerfield was a match-winner on Saturday night, De Goey – boasting a similar explosiveness, when at his best, to Dangerfield – was a man fighting for form and fitness.
He stood at eight centre bounces against the Cats but had only one clearance, and finished the night with only nine disposals and 57 metres gained. He is averaging only 11 disposals through five games.
“He is managing loads, how much can he do around playing and then training. He has literally only started to get consistency with training and playing in the same week, which is hard to do at this level,” McRae said.
McRae has taken the unusual approach of having his players sit through the press conference given by Dockers coach Justin Longmuir last Friday after his team was crunched by St Kilda.
Longmuir said his team needed to be tougher in the contest, having been thumped by the Saints in contested ball and clearances. The Magpies also watched film of how the Dockers, who have slipped to ninth on the ladder, trained on Monday, to see what areas of the game they were working on.
“It was things he [Longmuir] said was lacking so, if it’s lacking, you would expect it to be there, or you would want it to be. We are not going to shy away from what’s coming,” McRae said.
Despite the mass changes, McRae said his team will head to Perth “full of confidence”.
“We are process-driven. Wait ’til you see our team. If you think we are going over with four less, well, we hope they think that. We are taking 23, not 18 or 19. We have really quality players coming in, we have great role players. We have great belief in our system,” McRae said.
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