Magpies coach Craig McRae says Scott Pendlebury was unlikely to travel to Brisbane next round regardless of how he performed in tonight’s match.
Pendlebury left the game in the second half with a tight Achilles.
It’s unclear how long he may miss, but he told both Seven and Fox Footy he didn’t expect to be out long.
“We got told it was a tight Achilles,” McRae said.
“We spoke during the week, and he was unlikely to go to Brisbane for that match anyway.”
Collingwood coach Craig McRae doubts captain Darcy Moore will travel to Brisbane to face the Lions next round but he hopes the skipper hasn’t suffered a serious hamstring injury.
McRae said Moore felt some “awareness” in his hamstring during the match but the high-performance team cleared him to play some minutes and help other players get their rest within Collingwood’s defensive rotations.
“It’s hamstring awareness,” McRae said.
“He had this about 10 to 12 days ago, and it was, ‘No risk, no risk, no risk’, but we were in the game and it’s like, ‘Can he push through? Can he take some minutes as he’s important in terms of rotations?’”
“We will train. We don’t need any days off yet,” GWS coach Adam Kingsley said post-match.
The Giants have their bye from opening round this coming weekend and Kingsley is determined to use the extra training time to improve his side’s connection issues, and, hopefully bring back other stars from his injury list ahead of their clash with Richmond during Gather Round.
Despite the Giants having a very young side, Kingsley still thinks they could have won tonight’s match with better kicking and better connection with their forwards.
“I still think we had a good enough team to win tonight,” he said.
Just to add another injury to the Giants’ list, Ryan Angwin went down late in the match with a burst eardrum.
Giants coach Adam Kingsley confirmed the injury and hopes that Angwin can be fit to play after the club’s bye.
“He burst his eardrum, apparently. He must have got hit on the side of the ear and burst his eardrum,” Kingsley said.
“I don’t think it is significant, but it sounds pretty significant to me, who is uneducated in that space.”
When asked if he thought Angwin would be back after the bye, Kingsley said, “I think so”.
Oscar Steene spoke with Fox Footy post-match.
On making his debut four years after being drafted:
”I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
“I’ve had all my mates and my family come here. It’s been a great night, and I’m so happy.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve been playing in the VFL for the past few years, and it is a good place to develop. It made it more special when it finally happened.”
Nick Daicos was best on ground in tonight’s game but he was most excited about the debut of ruckman Oscar Steene, who was repeatedly leaping high in the ruck contests and tapping the ball to his superstar midfielder.
“[He was] unbelievable. He was coming to the centre bounce and saying where do you want it?” Daicos exclaimed to Fox Footy.
Daicos said the team knew Steene had a lot to offer, but he had been stuck behind Darcy Cameron.
“Oh mate – he was unbelievable,” Nick Daicos said.
“We’ve seen him for a long time now, but he’s stuck behind an amazing ruck, and he’s just been waiting and been working super hard.
“He’s one of the best blokes you will meet. I was just stoked for him tonight and [it was] amazing for him to kick a goal too.”
You have to love the reactions from Oscar Steene’s mates, who travelled over from his native South Australia to see him make his AFL debut.
Magpies great Scott Pendlebury will try to play next week after pulling up with soreness during tonight’s match, but questions still remain about just what his injury is and how bad it is.
The 428-gamer was removed from tonight’s clash early third term with what was described as Achilles tightness in commentary, and Pendlebury said the issue comes from an ankle issue suffered in recent weeks, which flared up again.
“It wasn’t a concerned look, we just made the smart call,” Pendlebury told Fox Footy.
“I hurt my ankle against Adelaide, it got tight again in that area, and we were out by 25 points, so we just said we don’t need to push it here when we have a six-day break.
Another Nick Daicos masterclass has led a frugal Collingwood side to a big win over GWS Giants.
Daicos put on one of the best individual performances of the season but the true standout was the Magpies’ team defence which kept the inexperienced Giants to just seven goals.
Scott Pendlebury’s Achilles injury will be a concern but he looks like he will be back soon enough.