A taste of senior football during the NAB Challenge meant Jordan De Goey knew exactly how to approach Thursday’s VFL practice match.

The 19-year-old was one of Collingwood’s best in its 118-point win over a Richmond side that was admittedly lacking in AFL experience.

But it was AFL experience that made all the difference for De Goey, who averaged 10.0 disposals and 2.0 tackles in his brief senior foray against Hawthorn and Carlton.

“My role was to play through the midfield, so I got good time in there, learned a lot of stuff and just got to work on some of the small things that I struggled with at the AFL level in the NAB Challenge,” De Goey told collingwoodfc.com.au after the match.

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“It’s just good to fine-tune those little areas that I needed to work on. Today was a good day for it.”

De Goey played a key role in setting up his side’s win, kicking two goals from the midfield including a banana on his left boot during the third quarter.

The former Oakleigh Charger says his stint alongside his senior teammates left him well equipped to attack the game.

“I took a lot from it. I just learned a lot from playing against some of the best guys in Australia,” he continued.

“That was great, and to come back to this level I had high expectations on myself to play really well and sort of set the standard for the other guys.”


Nathan Buckley has blooded at least one debutant in each of his three round one games as coach.

Jackson Paine, Paul Seedsman and Peter Yagmoor broke through in 2012, Sam Dwyer and Jack Frost debuted in 2013, while it was Tom Langdon’s turn last year.

Does De Goey fancy his chances of adding his name to that group?

“It’s up to the coaches. I’d like to hopefully think I’m in the mix for round one but I’m just going to continue to do my bit for the team, whether it’s AFL or VFL,” he smiles.

“There’s still a fair few things I need to work on and if I get the opportunity I’ll just try and put my best foot forward.

“I’m not going to think about it too much.”