Moore to Pie than an injury

JOSH Kennedy says it is hard to kick goals on Darcy Moore.

“With Darcy, he’s very quick,” Kennedy said. “So it’s hard to get a lead-up on him because he gets going, and he’s so tall as well, which makes it hard in the air.”

The West Coast champion booted 3.1 against Collingwood in Round 17. But it was Moore, playing his first game in nine weeks, who took the points.

Kennedy grasped two contested marks opposed to Jeremy Howe in the first quarter and then kicked his third goal via a “Joe the Goose” handball from Mark LeCras.

It was a goalless second half as Moore found his groove. And it is that July duel which makes Collingwood’s selection so fascinating tonight.

While Tyson Goldsack battled against a rusty Kennedy in the qualifying final, the Eagle’s second half was telling.

Magpies coach Nathan Buckley yesterday said there were still “some moving parts” when it came to selection.

Unless Moore has suffered an undisclosed setback, it is hard to think he is not fit. Two weeks ago Buckley said Moore was “basically best on track” after the main training session, yet he didn’t play in the semi or preliminary final.

The grand final marks 56 days since Moore suffered what football boss Geoff Walsh dubbed a “hamstring strain” to his good side.

“The significance of the injury being in the right leg is it is not related to Darcy’s recent history,” Walsh said at the time.

He has had eight weeks to get it right. Training at top speed for the past few weeks suggests he is in the clear.

After Moore blanketed Kennedy in Round 17, Essendon great Tim Watson declared he had the makings of a “superstar defender”.

Buckley said Moore’s performance that day was “a clear positive for us”.

But Moore has broken down in three of his seven games this season and withdrew in the warm-up of another.

“What we need to see is Darce actually say his hand is up and ready to go. That is more of an emotional and mental belief in himself,” Buckley said recently.