Magpies go flat-out on road to finals: Buckley
TWO unlikely losses could cost Collingwood its first finals campaign since 2013, and coach Nathan Buckley says the Magpies are preparing to hustle to keep the dream alive.
Collingwood appears destined for a top-eight finish but if the Magpies trip up against Port Adelaide and Fremantle, its season is in disarray.
“We don’t want to leave anything in the tank, you don’t want to be looking back saying ‘What if?” Buckley said yesterday.
“The challenge for us is to realise (that and) take that mentality into every week.
“We’re coming up against a side who we know is fighting for their finals survival and we’re only one game ahead of them, so in many ways, we’re fighting for ours as well.
“It’s been pretty tight, the last four or five weeks. Everyone’s had the ladder predictor out and been proven wrong, continually.
“It just shows you how unpredictable it can be.”
Buckley remains hopeful star midfielder Adam Treloar will play a role in a Magpies finals campaign, as he continues his recovery from a ham- string injury.
Treloar trained away from the main group yesterday but did sprints and running up a small hill at Olympic Park.
“Ads has knocked on the door a couple of times this week, but I said ‘Mate, you’ve come to the wrong bloke’ — he’s still got to prove to the doctor that he’s right to go first,” Buckley said.
“But that time will come. He’s not going to die wondering.
“It’s a long time gone. It takes a lot of work to get to this point and on the other side, it’s a lot of work to get back.
“The guys that have got any chance are doing everything they possibly can, as you do … it’s what you need, you need all hands on deck.
“We’re hopeful. I’m hopeful.”
Will Hoskin-Elliott appeared proppy as he left the training track yesterday, but Buckley said it was simply “bumps and bruises” and “he should be right”.
Buckley confirmed a News Corp report the club was poised to re-sign injured forward Jamie Elliott while he insisted out-of-favour goalkicker Alex Fasolo, who has been linked to Carlton, was a required player.
“I read in the paper that that’s going to happen, so that’ll probably happen, they probably got that one right,” Buckley said of Elliott’s new deal.
“Fas is in the middle of a campaign and he’s one of those guys that’s trying to put together a body of work to prove that he can come in and help us up top,” he said.
“Anything beyond that will look after itself.”
He said Jeremy Howe had surgery on his corked leg and was aiming to play again in Round 23.
Buckley said Ben Reid, who re-injured his calf in his VFL return last week, had not given up on his season, while Tyson Goldsack was also working hard in his recovery from a knee reconstruction.
‘We’re coming up against a side who we know is fighting for their finals survival and we’re only one game ahead of them, so in many ways, we’re fighting for ours as well.’ MAGPIES COACH NATHAN BUCKLEY