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Collingwood began assessing options to replace the injured Daniel McStay during a gruelling training session on Monday when a star recruit declared there was no reason why the Magpies could not go back to back.<\/p>\n
With premiership stars Jordan De Goey (personal reasons) and Mason Cox (overseas) absent, the Magpies were put through a three-hour program in searing heat at Victoria Park.<\/p>\n
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Collingwood\u2019s Patrick Lipinski leaves the training track on Monday with a sore ankle.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n Creative forward Patrick Lipinski hurt his right ankle during drill work and left the field for treatment. He briefly returned and began to jog a lap, before he was removed from training, and was later seen with a minor hobble while icing the injury. He told teammates the injury was not serious, and he will be monitored over coming days.<\/p>\n Whether it be in drill work or match simulation, the Magpies\u2019 senior players had the required intensity to show they are determined to reap successive premierships, much to the delight of star recruit Lachie Schultz.<\/p>\n \u201cI am confident the boys are just as hungry as they were last year,\u201d Schultz said.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, there is always that little bit of doubt they might have a premiership hangover, but I can confidently say that they definitely don\u2019t have that. They are just as hungry as ever, and it\u2019s such an honour to be able to come here. The whole club is up and about, it\u2019s not just the playing group. It\u2019s the whole, entire club that is right around it.\u201d<\/p>\n Schultz, 25, will add to the Magpies\u2019 forward firepower after linking with the club in the trade period. Having grown up in the Riverina district town of Moama, on the Victoria\/NSW border, the former Docker requested a trade home to the east coast. He had plied his trade with the Bendigo Pioneers and Williamstown in the VFL before the Dockers drafted him in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cIt [trade] did happen pretty quickly \u2013 it all happened over a weekend. Me and my partner were back home, and we decided \u2013 we had personal things happen in the past 12 months that I don\u2019t need to go into \u2013 now was the time to come home,\u201d Schultz said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the opportunity arose, we would go after it, and it did. I am absolutely privileged to have the best team in the comp come after me.<\/p>\n \u201cCollingwood probably was the one that we really went after, and they came after us as well. There were discussions elsewhere, but, at the same time, I was pretty set on coming to the Pies after the success they have had.\u201d<\/p>\n Collingwood recruit Lachie Schultz talks to the media about how he landed at the Magpies from Fremantle.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n The Magpies ceded pick 34, which they had accrued in the Taylor Adams trade to Sydney, and their first-round pick next year for Schultz, all but ending Jack Ginnivan\u2019s time in the black and white.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing led to another. I was always hopeful it would go through and, obviously, with a year still on your contract, you have nerves about what could happen, and the outcome of it. At the same time, they showed a lot of belief in me and a lot of desire to get me here, and it played out that way,\u201d Schultz said.<\/p>\n Collingwood\u2019s Josh Daicos shows his hunger to improve at training.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n Schultz, with career highs in several statistical categories last season, has missed just three games in the past three seasons.<\/p>\n He will have an important role to play in a forward line that won\u2019t have McStay for the entire 2024 campaign. The marking forward was left devastated on Friday after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament at training. He had only just returned from a medial ligament strain that forced him to miss the grand final win over Brisbane.<\/p>\n During match simulation on Monday, Billy Frampton, Ash Johnson and Reef McInnes all spent time as deep marking options. Frampton took the injured McStay\u2019s spot in the grand final, playing more as a defensive forward (two disposals), Johnson was hurt and missed the finals (15 games last season, 21 goals), while McInnes, from the 2020 national draft, has played only 11 senior matches, including five last season (three goals).<\/p>\n Veteran forward Brody Mihocek (team-high 47 goals in 2023) will remain a key option, while Schultz joins brilliant small forwards Jamie Elliott and Norm Smith medallist Bobby Hill.<\/p>\n Ruck-forward Cox and the brilliant De Goey also remain goal-kicking options.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, it\u2019s a huge loss losing Dan \u2026 we have got great coverage up there. I have full confidence whoever it is to come in and play that role,\u201d Schultz said.<\/p>\n Brayden Maynard will be restricted in his training program until February after having shoulder surgery.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n The Magpies can place McStay on the long-term injury list to open a second list spot.<\/p>\n Former Port Adelaide ruckman Brynn Teakle, former Saint Jack Bytel, VFL-listed Magpies Campbell Hustwaite and Josh Eyre, and Collegians VAFA midfielder Sam Sofronidis trained with the Magpies on Monday, and are vying to be signed through the supplemental selection period.<\/p>\n Rebounding half-back Brayden Maynard spent significant time on an exercise bike, and won\u2019t return to training until February after undergoing a shoulder reconstruction.<\/p>\n Cox is in the US, and uploaded a photograph of himself and AFL commentator and columnist Kane Cornes at the NFL match between the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns on Monday.<\/p>\n Coach Craig McCrae is completing a course at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, leaving assistant Hayden Skipworth in charge.<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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