NICK Maxwell left Collingwood's season launch early still wearing a moon boot, but the Magpies skipper remains confident he'll play in their season opener on Friday week.
Maxwell rolled his right ankle in the second quarter of the Pies' 33-point win over St Kilda in the final round of the NAB Cup on Friday at Visy Park.
He left the field in pain and unable to bear weight on the foot but was cleared of major damage on Saturday.
The 28-year-old was presented with his guernsey hours before his teammates at Monday night's season launch and Hall of Fame dinner at Crown so he could resume a strict icing schedule.
"It's better than it looks. It's precautionary at the moment," Maxwell told the 1000-plus strong crowd at the Melbourne function.
"Keep icing and keep doing the right thing and I'll be right for next week."
Maxwell revealed he had been icing the ankle every hour since Friday, including overnight.
The Magpies play Hawthorn in their season opener on March 30 at the MCG, in a rematch of last year's thrilling preliminary final.
The rest of Collingwood's list was present at Monday's function, including Andrew Krakouer and Brent Macaffer, who walked unaided despite surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament last month.
While Krakouer accepted guernsey No.3, it was revealed on stage he had decided to stick with the No.7 strip he wore in his first season with Collingwood in 2011 after initially agreeing to a change.
Meanwhile, defender Chris Tarrant is in doubt for the club's round one encounter with Hawthorn.
The Magpies' key defender has battled a foot injury and shin soreness this pre-season, and only returned to full training about four weeks ago.
He is rated only a 50-50 chance to play in the VFL this weekend, which would be his first hit-out of the year. If he doesn't play in the practice match, he appears unlikely to face the Hawks in the club's season opener.
"At this stage, we're 50-50 on whether he has done enough to play or whether we keep Chris for the following week," Magpies football manager Geoff Walsh told the Herald Sun.
"Because he was off his feet for so long, we are now managing the load in his calves and shins ... he's had a bit of soreness, but we're trying to get some miles into his leg."
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Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.
