Collingwood’s Head of High-Performance Jarrod Wade has provided an Injury Update ahead of the Magpies first game of the 2024 Toyota AFL Premiership Season against the GWS Giants on Saturday.
The fitness of Collingwood veteran Scott Pendlebury will be assessed before the Opening Round clash in Sydney as he continues his recovery from a knock to the back of his knee/hamstring region suffered during pre-season training. The injury kept him out of last week’s practice match against Richmond.
Fellow veteran Jeremy Howe won’t play in Saturday evening’s match after the calf injury that saw him miss last week’s practice match. The 233-gamer will continue to build his training loads and is expected to be available for the Round One clash against the Sydney Swans.
Key forward Nathan Kreuger will be out until at least Round Five after injuring his hamstring in last week’s VFL practice match against Richmond. The 24-year-old suffered a semimembranosus injury and is expected to have a quicker recovery period compared to the more common hamstring injury.
2023 draftee Harry DeMattia is continuing his recovery from a finger injury and has received the all clear to begin sweating following the risk of infection post-surgery lowering. The 18-year-old will enter a six-to-eight-week period of running and conditioning, that will see him develop a range of attributes that will form part of his long term athletic development, including fitness, speed and agility.
Josh Eyre is progressing well in his recovery from a hamstring injury sustained in pre-season. The Supplemental Selection Period signing has been able to complete gym and prep to run work inside and is expected to begin running next week. Eyre will complete a couple of weeks of slow tempo running before his speed develops over a four-to-six-week block.
Defender Nathan Murphy continues to build his confidence in his return to play after suffering a concussion during last year’s Grand Final. Murphy has completed some contact work in a controlled environment at training, including in a one-on-one setting against a tackle bag. The aim continues to be to develop this, with no timeframe on return set at this stage.
Key forward Dan McStay is continuing to make positive steps in his recovery from the ACL injury he suffered in November. The 28-year-old is completing two running sessions a week, and will continue this for another two weeks, before he then makes the step to increasing his volume and load to progress into the next phase of his rehabilitation.
Watch the full Injury Update:
