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CTV > Watch Mick Malthouse's Friday press conferenceCOLLINGWOOD coach Mick Malthouse has hinted that Essendon's well documented injury list may not be as extensive as the club is making out.
Malthouse was speaking ahead of the Pies' round 17 clash against the Bombers on Saturday at the MCG.
"The forward scout saw 35 players training on their ground ... 11 of which are now playing in their Bendigo side tomorrow", Malthouse said from the Lexus Centre on Friday.
"I just go by what out training scout says and the 35 options they have got to pick from.
"I know one thing for sure -- the 22 are very dangerous."
Turning attention to his own injury worries, Malthouse insisted that despite Josh Fraser’s name appearing on the reserves line up this weekend, he remains the club’s number-one ruckman.
Malthouse said the vice-captain’s posterior cruciate ligament injury, which he sustained in the Hall of Fame game, was still preventing him from being able to ruck at the elite level.
“I have this nagging suspicion that the media are starting to jump up and down and say Josh Fraser is not good enough to play senior football, that’s what I’ve heard… that’s not the case… we have elected not to play him up until the medical people believe that he is capable of rucking again," Malthouse said.
"So he hasn’t gone down in any of our calculations of where he sits. He is the number-one ruckman in our football club… we can get rid of all the rumour, innuendo, guess work and second guessing that he is dropping in the pecking order.”
Malthouse said that he is looking for a vast improvement for the playing group as a whole following the defeat to North Melbourne last week.
“I don’t think we had one winner… when you go through the side and try to find one player who actually won on the day and we’re struggling to find one… there’s a fair bit of work to be done.”
Despite sitting just a game and a half behind the Sydney Swans and a place in the top four, the veteran coach insisted that he’s not even thinking about a top of the ladder placing.
“I’m not even thinking about top four. We’re just worried about top eight. We need probably three games to secure that," he said.
"Us, North Melbourne and Carlton, all fighting for a position in the eight, we look good when we look good and we look ordinary when we look ordinary. Geelong play ordinary and look good and win games.”
