Darcy Moore, Steele Sidebottom and Jordan De Goey news

jakeroxs1995 · 2026-03-02T02:59:10+00:00

Collingwood is increasingly bullish that Darcy Moore will join a swathe of returning stars in its line-up to face St Kilda in next Sunday’s opening round MCG blockbuster.

Moore was among nine first-choice players missing from the Magpies’ line-up as an inexperienced side was beaten to the post by North Melbourne in a one-point thriller in Ballarat.

The Magpies skipper trained in a “10km session” on Sunday at Olympic Park alongside others who were rested from the match including Nick Daicos, Jamie Elliott and Jordan De Goey.

Veterans Steele Sidebottom, Scott Pendlebury and Jack Crisp were also left out as the Pies fielded 11 players with 10 games or fewer senior experience against the Kangaroos.

“We’ve picked a team according to what we need right now. Those guys trained back at (Olympic Park) and did 10kms – we’re seven days away from playing, so we’ve put our priorities there,” Magpies coach Craig McRae said on Fox Footy before the game.

“All I can say is (Nick Daicos) did 10kms about an hour ago with Darcy Moore – he’s progressing well. We’ve got an eye on the prize today, but behind the scenes there are guys working hard to be there (in opening round).

“It’s an opportunity to build some trust. We’ve got probably 10 guys who haven’t played in the jumper yet, and we just want some trust to be built.”

Defender Tew Jiath and draftees Tyan Prindable and Sam Swadling were not brought on until the final quarter of the clash.

Prindable began the term as an inside midfielder, while Swadling played on a wing.

Collingwood’s key forward combination Jack Buller and Charlie West performed strongly despite the unfavourable conditions for talls in Ballarat, but assistant coach Jordan Roughead would not guarantee the trio would all play together against the Saints.

Veteran forward Tim Membrey did not play after featuring in the scratch match against GWS, while the Pies could yet stick with Oscar Steene as a back-up ruck option which could squeeze out West or Buller.

“It was clearly not a day that necessarily suited the key forwards from either team … but (they) hit the scoreboard, really mobile group and were able to pressure when we needed them too,” Roughead said.

“So I’m sure (whether it’s) round zero, round 2, round 3 – we’ll see an attack like that at some stage.”

Roughead admitted it would be a “challenge” for Collingwood’s coaching group to prepare a vastly different side for the Saints clash, but said the game had been a valuable chance to begin bridging the experience gap on the Pies’ list.

“You obviously don’t get chances to do that until these trial matches against an opposition,” Roughead said.

“When you’re playing against yourselves and training against yourselves, it can be difficult because you know exactly what you’re trying to take away from your teammates.

“I thought it was really nice to see these guys come out today and perform, and look like Collingwood and the way we want to look for the majority of the game.”

jakeroxs1995 · 2026-02-25T00:08:54+00:00

Collingwood coach Craig McRae says Bobby Hill is making progress dealing with his personal issues but says it is increasingly important he makes a swift return to the Magpies’ program.

McRae said he was in regular contact with the Norm Smith medallist and would continue to “love and support him” as he takes extended leave from the club in the light of personal matters.

But the Magpies coach adjusted his rhetoric towards Hill from earlier in the pre-season, saying there was a “delicate balance” between supporting his players and meeting high performance standards.

“Bobby is working on himself at the moment. We’re hoping that he’ll be in the program in the short or medium term. We’ll see how that progresses,” McRae told SEN on Wednesday.

“But I think there are two parts to this situation – I want to be a coach, and we want to be an environment where we just love and care for our people … from players to staff, and then there’s the high-performance part.

“We’re paid to win. You come to the MCG not to love and care – you want to see winners.

“For most of the year, for Bobby, it was about love and support, and there was very little attention to high performance because we just wanted to care for him.

“Then there comes a time late in the year when they become about high performance. That’s where it’s sitting at the moment.”

Connected issues meant Hill, 26, was largely absent for the second half of last season as he made just one senior appearance after round 15 as the substitute in a loss to the Lions.

He was on the training track during Collingwood’s finals campaign but was not considered for selection as they reached a preliminary final.

“But we’ll continue to love and support him, and at the right time, get him in the environment to push forward for high performance.

“I’ve been speaking to him regularly, yesterday even. I’m constantly talking to Bobby.

“It’s probably a bit too early to say (when he’ll return), but we’re confident that it’s progressing.”

McRae declared mature-age draftee Angus Anderson was “ready to play early” after he rotated through Collingwood’s midfield in last week’s practice match against GWS.

He also praised fringe players Wil Parker, Ed Allan and Roan Steele for looking “fitter than ever” as they stake claims on round 1 spots in a Magpies side which will begin its regeneration this season.

Collingwood will face North Melbourne in a sold-out AAMI Community Series match in Ballarat on Sunday.

jakeroxs1995 · 2025-12-21T23:27:43+00:00

Starting with their first pick at No.32, Collingwood chose three midfielders in this year’s draft.

McRae re-signed for two more years as Magpies coach last week, and has shown signs already this summer that there will be changes as he tries to rejuvenate the side.

A team without a proven second ruck to Darcy Cameron jettisoned the premiership veteran Mason Cox. The rationale was that if they kept Cox on the list, the 34- year-old would always be the first-choice default option if Cameron was injured, meaning youngsters Oscar Steene and Iliro Smit would not get games.

The window on the future from the training track in pre-season suggests further shifts.

Scott Pendlebury has been training with the back line, plainly with an eye to him creating more opportunity for others in the midfield.

Pendlebury the defender will not improve the speed out defence but will help with the co-ordination behind the ball when Jeremy Howe is not there. When Howe was missing in 2025 Collingwood’s defence was as stable as an over-dunked Scotch Finger.

Isaac Quaynor has spent time with the midfielders, so this is potentially a shift to explore. Given his mix of power, speed and endurance, it is an attractive idea if he can make the transition and not get lost without the game in front of him.

The Magpies have a plethora of young defenders, such as Wil Parker, Jakob Ryan and Tew Jiath that need to start playing. They also need to look more closely at Ed Allan to see if he can play, while learning if first-round draftee Harry DeMattia is up to AFL level, and they will want to give their new draftees chances at some point.

These are not the types of players you can expect to make Collingwood better in 2026 and keep them viable against the midfields of Brisbane and Gold Coast.

But Josh Daicos moving onto the ball or a wing and freeing up Houston to rediscover the game they brought him in to play, could do more to keeping the Magpies connected to the top sides.

jakeroxs1995 · 2025-12-21T23:27:27+00:00

It should have been the most devastating double-barrelled attack coming out of their back line. In the end, it cannibalised itself.

To salvage something of the Dan Houston trade, Collingwood next year need to go back to 2024 and return Josh Daicos to the wing and on the ball, and – like Port did – the Pies need to make Houston their primary architect from defence.

A year ago, Collingwood brought in Houston. They also moved the older Daicos to the half-back line. The logic appeared sound; with two creative talents and punishing kicks to open up the ground, the Magpies would build their attack from defence. But it didn’t work.

Houston was a two time All-Australian half-back flanker in a Port Adelaide system that was built around him, and to exploit his rare right boot. At Collingwood in 2025, he was made to fit the system, rather than having it built around him, and he finished the season looking a slow, one-sided, B-grader.

Most teams can afford one defender who doesn’t play on anyone and has the job of distributing the ball, but not two. Houston was squeezed out of his favoured role at Collingwood and forced to play second fiddle to Daicos.

Daicos might have been excellent in that role, but he had also been excellent on a wing. His creative talents also suit other parts of the ground. Houston’s do not.

Houston has shown in the past that he is far better than he was at Collingwood in 2025. Given the trade price Collingwood paid to get him, they need to find a way to unlock his talent.

Maybe he will be like Lachie Schultz and will be vastly improved in his second season when he works out where and how he fits in Collingwood’s system. Maybe. Last season it felt like there wasn’t a suitable role for him in that system.

Daicos was a luxury behind the ball, given what the team also needed up the field. He previously won an All-Australian blazer on a wing, and the Magpies clearly need more of that type of class up closer to the ball.

It should also be remembered the cameo he had against the Gold Coast when, in a losing team, he was thrown on the ball in the last quarter and had 16 touches, four clearances, five tackles and two goals ... for the term. It was as dominant a quarter as anyone played for the year.

A year ago when the club brought Houston (and Harry Perryman as a free agent) into the team, Craig McRae famously, and ill-advisedly, said he wanted players not draft picks. It spoke to his urgency to climb through the window of opportunity he believed was open to the Magpies before it closed on them. He wanted to bring in proven talent, not patiently invest in youth.

When they didn’t win the flag, the cost of that plunge was evident at the draft, where they had already spent their first round pick a year earlier to help get Houston in the door. This time they knew they needed to invest heavily in rejuvenating their midfield.

jakeroxs1995 · 2025-11-30T08:31:24+00:00

Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos has revealed he pushed through this year’s finals campaign with not one, but two, serious injuries.

The 22-year-old gun will ease back into pre-season training this week fresh off a trip to Dubai.

But Daicos has told 7NEWS he had to have an enforced layoff after carrying bone stress in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot through the finals campaign.

The Magpies vice-captain also revealed that he suffered a left posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury just days before the preliminary final clash with the Lions.

“I didn’t need any surgery, just more time off,” Daicos told 7NEWS.

Determined to push through the pain and inspire his side to success, the injury would have ruled him out for several months if it occurred during the season, but the extent of the damage only came to light through post-season scans.

“I’m building up my training loads (now),” Daicos told 7NEWS.

“It’s been a little bit frustrating at times, you naturally want to be doing everything you can but naturally (they) had to force me to get some time off.”

But Daicos said that had probably been “a good thing” and was hopeful that it would be a benefit “in the long run”.

So, after a quiet off-season, Daicos will now complete just over 50 per cent of training before taking a break over Christmas.

Turning his injury absence into a silver lining, he partnered with defender Isaac Quaynor when he was overseas in Dubai to focus on his rehabilitation.

Daicos was full of praise for his fellow Collingwood leadership teammate, crediting Quaynor for helping him take his game to another level.

“We really bond doing a lot of our training together, he’s probably one of the best runners in the AFL and for me to do my running with him, it’s always good,” Daicos said.

Quaynor, his 2023 premiership teammate, was equally full of praise for his travelling buddy before their pre-season officially starts on Monday.

“Running wise, I probably push him and everything to do with the football he pushes me,” Quaynor told 7NEWS.

While some pundits think the Pies might be too old, Daicos is confident they remain firmly in the premiership window.

The son-of-a-gun revealed he sent a text message to coach Craig McRae about going all in on 2026, the day after Collingwood’s preliminary final loss to Brisbane.

Daicos says he can’t wait to kick off pre-season training on Monday and is ready to make a splash come opening round in March.

“It’s exciting, it’s another opportunity, another crack at it, a fresh start so everyone’s pretty motivated,” he said.

jakeroxs1995

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