Nick Daicos is under injury watch ahead of Round 19, with Collingwood coach Craig McRae revealing the young superstar is carrying soreness following a brutal outing against Gold Coast.
While no final call has been made on his availability, McRae admitted the club is treading carefully when it comes to the 21-year-old’s training loads as September looms. Daicos only managed his first training session of the week on Thursday morning.
“The facts were he looked sore and the GPS says that,” McRae told reporters. “He’s getting beaten up a bit, but that’s part of the job, isn’t it?”
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Hard to keep one of the best players off the field
Despite concerns, Daicos is famously reluctant to sit out games, even when asked to ease his workload.
“It’s hard to keep him out, though,” McRae said. “You say, ‘Nick, what about maybe playing sub?’ Nup. ‘What about starting on the bench?’ It’s a challenge to keep one of the best players off the field, but we’re very conscious of his loads.”
With the Pies preparing for the pointy end of the season, McRae and the fitness staff are likely to weigh risk against reward when naming their final squad to face Fremantle on Sunday.
The full team list will be confirmed on Thursday evening.