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Didak in line for shock return
1 hours, 38 minutes ago | Back
Brought to you by GUY HAND AND DANIEL BRETTIG, AAP
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COLLINGWOOD is toying with unleashing Alan Didak for his first match of the season after losing small forward Paul Medhurst with an ankle injury.
Didak, who has recovered from an off-season knee reconstruction, wasn't initially named in the Magpies' 22-man team or as an emergency to play Port Adelaide at the MCG.
But Medhurst was ruled out of the match after failing to recover from an ankle knock sustained last weekend.
Ben Johnson replaced him in the 22, while Didak was added to the emergencies.
Small forward Didak broke the Power's hearts last season with the winning goal in a two-point win in round 20, and has an excellent goalkicking record against the Adelaide side.
"He trained really well, and we'll see how our 25 is," coach Mick Malthouse said on Friday.
"He does (have a good record against Port).
"You do look at previous games and see how they've performed. We'll weigh that up."
Malthouse said Medhurst was likely to be fit again for Collingwood's Anzac Day clash with Essendon on Wednesday.
"He was on the verge of playing, but we elected not to go in with an injured player," he said.
"Given those circumstances, we expect he'll be available for next week's game."
Defender James Clement, a late injury withdrawal from the Richmond match last weekend, got through training with no problems and will play.
But skipper Nathan Buckley remains no closer to a playing comeback as he grapples with a recurring hamstring complaint.
"I really don't know with Nathan ... he's making progress but how long that will be, I'm not too sure," Malthouse said.
Port Adelaide flew in to Melbourne without a back-up ruckman for Brendon Lade following Dean Brogan's omission with an ankle injury, but did take key defender Troy Chaplin as travelling emergency.
Coach Mark Williams suggested defender Toby Thurstans may be used as a stopgap ruckman for a match against a team he said had "outstanding" form.
"They've run out games really well, they've beaten the Kangaroos and Richmond in the last half and that's been important, they stuck really close with West Coast so their form is outstanding," he said.
Williams said he had noted few changes in how Collingwood played the game, but expressed hope that the Magpies would cease their opposition to Port using their "prison bars" jumper in the AFL Heritage round.
"This year is the `70s and without any doubt, any fair minded, smart organisation would look at what Port Adelaide wore in the `70s and black and white is exactly what we wore," he said.
"We should be able to wear it ... I've seen other clubs wearing red and white, I think Fremantle used red and white last year, and I didn't see the Swans crying about that, so let's get over it and move on.
1 hours, 38 minutes ago | Back
Brought to you by GUY HAND AND DANIEL BRETTIG, AAP
News
COLLINGWOOD is toying with unleashing Alan Didak for his first match of the season after losing small forward Paul Medhurst with an ankle injury.
Didak, who has recovered from an off-season knee reconstruction, wasn't initially named in the Magpies' 22-man team or as an emergency to play Port Adelaide at the MCG.
But Medhurst was ruled out of the match after failing to recover from an ankle knock sustained last weekend.
Ben Johnson replaced him in the 22, while Didak was added to the emergencies.
Small forward Didak broke the Power's hearts last season with the winning goal in a two-point win in round 20, and has an excellent goalkicking record against the Adelaide side.
"He trained really well, and we'll see how our 25 is," coach Mick Malthouse said on Friday.
"He does (have a good record against Port).
"You do look at previous games and see how they've performed. We'll weigh that up."
Malthouse said Medhurst was likely to be fit again for Collingwood's Anzac Day clash with Essendon on Wednesday.
"He was on the verge of playing, but we elected not to go in with an injured player," he said.
"Given those circumstances, we expect he'll be available for next week's game."
Defender James Clement, a late injury withdrawal from the Richmond match last weekend, got through training with no problems and will play.
But skipper Nathan Buckley remains no closer to a playing comeback as he grapples with a recurring hamstring complaint.
"I really don't know with Nathan ... he's making progress but how long that will be, I'm not too sure," Malthouse said.
Port Adelaide flew in to Melbourne without a back-up ruckman for Brendon Lade following Dean Brogan's omission with an ankle injury, but did take key defender Troy Chaplin as travelling emergency.
Coach Mark Williams suggested defender Toby Thurstans may be used as a stopgap ruckman for a match against a team he said had "outstanding" form.
"They've run out games really well, they've beaten the Kangaroos and Richmond in the last half and that's been important, they stuck really close with West Coast so their form is outstanding," he said.
Williams said he had noted few changes in how Collingwood played the game, but expressed hope that the Magpies would cease their opposition to Port using their "prison bars" jumper in the AFL Heritage round.
"This year is the `70s and without any doubt, any fair minded, smart organisation would look at what Port Adelaide wore in the `70s and black and white is exactly what we wore," he said.
"We should be able to wear it ... I've seen other clubs wearing red and white, I think Fremantle used red and white last year, and I didn't see the Swans crying about that, so let's get over it and move on.
. Thats ok we can go in as underdogs i dont mind, but on paper Essendon still has their weaknesses, so you arent that good. Our form isnt all that bad even though we are 2-2.
