Pies breathe again as Cox returns to the frontline
MASON Cox’s return to the Collingwood forward line for tomorrow’s clash with North Melbourne is “massive in more ways than one”, according to coach Nathan Buckley.
The giant forward/ruckman was a late withdrawal from last week’s game against West Coast — the Pies’ first loss since Round 8 — because of hamstring tightness, but he proved his fitness in yesterday’s final training session.
Another bright note was the appearance of midfielder Adam Treloar, who ran a few light laps for the first time since injuring both hamstrings in Round 14, though his possible return remains a long way off.
While Buckley said Cox’s absence wasn’t the only reason for the 35-point loss to the Eagles, he knows the 211cm American has made a huge difference to the forward structure this season.
“We expect him to be right,” Buckley said.
“He got through the session and has come good.
“He was touch and go last week. It wasn’t worth the risk.
“We need to continue to find ways of being able to get around any reliance on any one individual, but his role (in the forward structure) we weren’t able to replace, due to availability.”
Trackwatchers were surprised to see Treloar jogging a few slow laps, though the coach said there would be no risks taken in his rehabilitation.
“He is a bullish character, always trying to beat expectations and to be ahead of the curve,” Buckley said.
“He will continue to do that, but there is a fair bit of time (left) for him, but also a fair bit of work to be done.”
Treloar is aiming to make it back before the end of the home-and-away season, but the Magpies are not prepared to put a time frame on his return.
Buckley said Darcy Moore would play in defence again this week in a likely match-up on Coleman Medal leader Ben Brown, and he didn’t rule out a tagging role for Levi Greenwood on the in-form Shaun Higgins.
“Darcy looked pretty good last week,” he said. “We probably lost a few more oneon-ones behind the ball than we have on average this year, but (we were) playing against some pretty good players in (Josh) Kennedy and (Jack) Darling.”