Collingwood Senior Coach Craig McRae has addressed the media ahead of his side’s Round 15 clash against Port Adelaide on Saturday night.
McRae spoke about a young midfielder who is set for a debut, the status of a couple of injured leaders and how the Pies reflected on their season so far over the bye.
First-year mid Swadling to debut
“Yeah, we just announced that before we trained today, Sam Swadling will play his first game,” McRae said.
“Young exciting kid from WA, really talented young man. He'll play a bit of midfielder, a bit of forward – a bit of everywhere, really.
“He’s got good energy and we’re excited to see that in a Collingwood jumper for the first time.”
How Maynard’s shoulder is progressing
“He wanted to play a lot and then reality set in that he's probably got a bit more work to do on that shoulder that’s still a bit unstable,” he said.
“He's a warrior who wants to play most weeks.
“Just chatting to him this morning he said ‘don’t count me out for next week'.
“He’s a week-by-week proposition. He’s a hard worker and will challenge timelines so we won’t put one on him.”
On Moore returning from overseas
“Darcy returned from overseas and it was good to see him back on Tuesday when he arrived back,” he said.
“He looks energetic, he's had a good training block, made some good progress and I don't know where that's at, at the moment, but he’s running.
“Massive gain in terms of belief in his body and he trained every day while he was over there and he comes back energised for doing what's required next.
“It’s great to have him back and I need to catch up with the high performance team … so I need to get on the same page and find out what’s going on.”
Reflections over the bye
“I think our game's progressed. I think the judgement of our game early about not scoring, that's shifting,” he said.
“Internally we look at the numbers and the connection inside 50s and there’s evidence of that.
“We do a lot right. That's the things we put in front of the players earlier this week that there's a lot of parts of our game that are in good shape and there's things we need to work on.
“The ladder can give you feedback and it is what it is if you watch it. But again, we’re process driven, and we think we’re doing a lot right and there's some opportunities in front of us.”
