HOWE ABOUT THEM PIES

TASMANIAN Jeremy Howe has joined Collingwood's leadership team for 2019 along with skipper Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom, Lynden Dunn and Taylor Adams. Howe, pictured right, has revealed the leg injury that was "hosing blood" last year.

COLLINGWOOD high-flyer Jeremy Howe has described the delicate surgery required to seal an artery that was “hosing out blood” into his right leg.

After missing four games with a heavily corked thigh last year, Howe copped a knock in the same spot last month when he collided with teammate Darcy Moore.

The 28-year-old had driven to Yarrawonga after training when his leg began to swell up, prompting a call to the doctor and a trip back to Melbourne.

The former Demon, pictured, said doctors discovered his artery was dangerously leaking blood into his leg.

“They put this dye in your blood and track where it is all going and they found I had an artery which was basically without an end,” Howe said.

“It was an open end which had temporarily sealed over.

“So after I copped the hit from Darcy, the blood was just hosing out into the rest of my leg. They had to put a coil on it to close it off. Then I had another bout of surgery a week later to drain all the blood out.

“This surgery is extremely rare, but it has turned out to be a positive, because it meant they could seal it off, which they didn’t do last year.

“If I had copped another hit there this season, I would have missed more games.”

Howe received the initial knock from Richmond ruckman Toby Nankervis and said he struggled with his kicking on his return in the qualifying final loss to West Coast.

But the star Magpie said the issue had been rectified and would not discourage him from flying for his screamers.

“If I do cop a hit in the same spot, I should be fine,” he said.

Howe said the addition of former Western Bulldogs tall Jordan Roughead, along with Moore’s return from ham- string problems, had rectified the Pies’ defensive issues.

He said the backline had played undersized last year and been beaten in the air by the Eagles in all three games.

“Roughy and Darcy give us that structure we probably lacked,” he said. “West Coast, for instance, got the better of us up forward each game.

“But having Roughy, he’s a big presence and a good leader, he always talks, but just having a big body down there helps.”