Pies load up big gun De Goey

COLLINGWOOD will welcome back electric forward Jordan De Goey from his COVID-19 rules-enforced week off when the Magpies meet the Cats at Perth Stadium on Thursday night.

And Geelong has recalled Jack Steven for the clash, which will welcome the biggest crowd of the season so far.

But the biggest show of faith was saved for tall forward and “whipping boy” Mason Cox, who has retained his spot and will face the Cats determined to find form, after coach Nathan Buckley turned the heat on the American goalkicker over his recent displays.

“Mason’s performances have been under par and he’s aware of that. So satisfied is probably not what I would describe of his performances, either from our perspective or from his, ” Buckley said this week. “He is a whipping boy.

“There’s a massive expectation of what he’s going to bring to the table.

“There’s a lot of conversation around weather conditions and game conditions and whether it’s conducive to his strengths shining.

“The role he plays does straighten us up and give us an aerial target towards our goal, and I think his competitiveness has been OK.

“But clearly he and we would like to see more from him and he has a greater capacity from what we’ve seen displayed in the last couple of weeks.”

More than 20,000 tickets have been sold.

De Goey was forced to miss the club’s win over Hawthorn in Sydney last week as he fulfilled AFL COVID-19 testing requirements.

After attending a police station in the week leading up to the game, he was required to return two negative tests for coronavirus before he could rejoin his teammates, instead flying directly to WA with suspended star Steele Sidebottom.