Pendlebury all clear after training scare
Scott Pendlebury finished training well after suffering a knock to his right knee.
As the training at Gosch's Paddock neared its end, the vice-captain sent a big scare through the Magpies' camp when he suffered a knock to the outside of his right knee.
He collapsed to the ground, where he remained for several minutes.
Midfield coach Robert Harvey was first on the scene before training was halted and Pendlebury talked at length with coach Nathan Buckley, trainers and sports science director David Buttifant.
After it initially looked as though the blue-chip midfielder had sustained a potentially serious knee injury, he remarkably re-joined the group.
While he appeared slightly limited for the rest of the session, he ended it with his teammates.
"He had a knock on the knee and rubbed it better. He got the 'happy spray' on it and was fine after that," Buckley said.
"He finished training pretty well.
"Pain and footy go hand in hand. He was suffering a little bit of pain but he got through well."
It is the same leg Pendlebury fractured in round 10 against Gold Coast, however Buckley denied he would require scans to rule out structural damage.
The Magpies face West Coast at Patersons Stadium on Saturday night in a clash critical for both teams' top-four aspirations.
Tyson Goldsack trained on Wednesday in his bid to prove he's over an ankle injury while Ben Johnson, Brent Macaffer and Andrew Krakouer were also part of the session.
All four are in the mix for selection while Dane Swan will play after serving a two-match club suspension.
But captain Nick Maxwell - who was subbed out of Saturday's loss to North Melbourne with a hip flexor/groin strain - and ruckman Darren Jolly failed to train.
"We'll give them every chance through the week," Buckley said.
"Do you just want me to narrow it down to one thing [with Jolly]? He's a big man, he's played a lot of footy, he plays one out in the ruck, he's generally sore after games and he takes a little bit longer to recover."
Heath Shaw got through most of training after appearing to undergo a fitness test early in the session.
Buckley said if Johnson was named to face the Eagles, it was a testament to the veteran's determination after it appeared his season was over when he needed a shoulder reconstruction in May.
"'Johnno's' ability to grit his teeth and really work his way back, to go through a reconstruction and then put himself in the position he's in at the moment … he's played a couple of games at VFL level and been very good in the competitive work," he said.
"He's done the contested work in training leading into that so it's been encouraging for us, and we hope the full story is yet to be written."