Mihocek boost for Pies
Collingwood spearhead Brody Mihocek has shown he is moving past a calf injury while Josh Daicos was not on track on Wednesday as he manages a sore foot.
The reigning premier had healthy numbers on track through wintry conditions, with forward Ash Johnson on light duties as he managed his training loads. Mihocek had been largely staying out of drills in recent weeks after picking up the minor calf complaint but joined in with the main group in some action.
“He will be back in (full training) later this week or early next week,” Magpies assistant coach Hayden Skipworth said after the session. “He is so important with us so we don’t want to take a risk with him.”
The risk-averse Magpies are staying cautious with Daicos, who has had a similar foot injury in the past and played through it. Skipworth said the All-Australian could play this week if needed but he was being held back.
“Fitness wise he is cherry ripe ... we could probably roll him out there if we wanted to but there are no risks in summer,” Skipworth said.
The Pies worked on centre bounces with a vast cast of new faces as Skipworth got a look at a bunch of options, with defender Jeremy Howe even getting a look. Beau McCreery showed some spark, winning a centre clearance at speed and dishing out a strong fend off.
Skipworth touted the Pies as the No.1 side for point differential from centre restarts last year and said he was always on the look out for more power in the guts.
“I generally like speed and power guys in centre bounces,” he said. “It is a really good score source for us ... we just have to keep an open mind to who can add value there.”
While the midfield magnets were thrown around, Will Hoskin-Elliott and Scott Pendlebury both played at halfback, Nathan Kreuger and Reef McInnes shared one forward line and Billy Frampton played in defence.