Pies won’t rush De Goey

COLLINGWOOD star Jordan De Goey won’t run the risk of trying to return prematurely from his hamstring injury, despite the club’s injury list that threatens the Magpies’ season.

But De Goey has insisted he will be back before the finals in what is expected to be a smaller revamped Magpies’ forward line.

The 23-year-old is set to miss a second consecutive week when the injury-hit Magpies tackle Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday.

His absence comes on top of a host of other injuries to key Magpie players, including Mason Cox, who later this week will have season-ending surgery on a torn left retina, and more laser surgery on his right eye.

However, the Magpies’ injury crisis won’t push De Goey into making a rash return.

“I’m going all right, [I’m] chipping away,” De Goey said on Triple M.

“It is obviously one of those injuries that you don’t want to come back too quickly from. I’ll take the right amount of time and make sure it is right before I come back — whether that’s this week or next, I will find out soon.”

De Goey hasn’t played since he tweaked his hamstring in the dying minutes of the loss to Richmond in Round 19. But given the club’s raft of injuries, particularly soft-tissue issues, he is thankful that it wasn’t a more serious situation.

“It was pretty much in the last two minutes of the game, which always seems to happen,” he said. “I kind of slipped and felt a bit of a grab, and it was lucky for me it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. For now, I guess this part of the season is about trying to get it right for the finals, if that is the case.”

He suggested the Magpies would look to a smaller forward set-up in Cox’s absence, saying: “Hopefully we can mix it up and maybe go a bit smaller but a bit more dangerous on the ground, so it will be interesting.”

Meanwhile, Cox’s manager, Adam Ramanauskas, said on RSN927 Breakfast his client will not be able to engage in any contact training for the next three months as he recovers.

Cox copped a poke in the eye in Sunday’s clash with Gold Coast and had to sit out the last half of the game.

He spent time at the Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital where he was diagnosed with a torn retina and will have surgery later this week.