‘Sleepless nights’ for McRae about resting Magpies
Oliver Caffrey |
Collingwood have recalled Jeremy Howe and Steele Sidebottom for a blockbuster with Brisbane, but fellow premiership player Brayden Maynard will sit out another week.
Magpies coach Craig McRae confirmed the two inclusions – Howe (arm) and Sidebottom (illness) – while also putting a line through Maynard (shoulder).
Isaac Quaynor (glute), Pat Lipinski (calf) and Harry Perryman (hamstring) were declared unavailable on Tuesday when Collingwood’s injury report was released.
But McRae was reluctant to talk about players – including Nick Daicos – who may be rested for Friday night’s clash, with Collingwood locked into a wildcard spot regardless of the result.
Teams ranked seventh to 10th won’t have the week off before finals that the top six earn, creating an even trickier run to a potential premiership.
“I’ve heard the narrative, everyone’s trying to take us towards the (Western) Bulldogs (ninth) … but it could be Carlton (10th),” McRae said on Wednesday.
“Everyone’s trying to take us to towards the future, and we’re really just determined to stay here, what’s relevant right now, and control what we can around that.
“No one’s had this in the history of a game – in this format, anyway.
“So we’ll learn some lessons along the way.
“There’s no perfect answer to it.
“We rest five players, we’ll be judged on that.
“We don’t rest five players, we will be judged on that.
“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had sleepless nights thinking about all the scenarios around what could be and what may be, but the reality is that we’ll just deal in what we can control.”
McRae admitted he hadn’t read the memo sent out by AFL football boss Greg Swann, warning clubs against mass-resting players in round 24.
“I know (Collingwood football manager) Charlie Gardiner read it and articulated that to us,” he said.
“It’s a bit of a common-sense thing that they don’t want 15 players rested.
“But we’ll do what’s best for what we think we need for this weekend and beyond.”
AAP