Selection squeeze at Collingwood as stars set to return
Rampaging Collingwood are set to get even stronger as they welcome back up to five stars for their clash with Hawthorn.
After handling North Melbourne on Saturday night amid some late changes, the Magpies are closing in on a full-strength unit.
Premiership heroes Scott Pendlebury (illness), Bobby Hill (personal reasons), Steele Sidebottom (managed), Darcy Moore (shoulder), along with small forward Lachie Schultz (concussion) are set to be recalled for Friday night's MCG showdown against the Hawks.
"All good to go. And we're excited for that," Magpies coach Craig McRae said of the returning guns.
"We stand here with a great performance on the weekend through guys coming in, doing the job.
"Then the excitement is that you wake up in the morning with some really important magnets to come back."
McRae conceded making so many changes in one week could come at a "cost", but was willing to risk the rewards.
Debutant Will Hayes, and Oleg Markov and Wil Parker, all made solid contributions in the 45-point win against the Kangaroos.
But there will be a selection squeeze coming, and that trio is likely to make way.
"There's a reality that some would know that ... not so much last in, first out, it doesn't work like that," McRae said.
"We want to keep rewarding behaviour around here and guys playing really well at the VFL level.
"Those conversations are always difficult, but you're having many of them on the way."
There was even positive news for defender Brayden Maynard, who could miss as little as one week with a fractured plantar fascia.
Maynard was subbed out against Collingwood, with initial fears he could be sidelined long-term.
But the 28-year-old will only miss one or two games.
There is also hope forward Dan McStay will return from a lengthy knee injury for Collingwood's King's Birthday match against Melbourne.
"He's got an injury that potentially helps him," McRae said.
"He's had this plantar fascia thing that's been grumbling for a long time, over 12 months, and he's pretty much snapped all that now.
"He's pain free.
"He's got a little bit of scar tissue that may require a week to rest, maybe two at max.
"Just chatting to him, he can't believe the difference in his pain.
"So as much as having a week or so off, it's potentially bad for the team, it's got to be good long-term."
Maynard became the fourth Magpies player to suffer plantar fascia issues recently, something the club is investigating.
"Apparently it's an industry issue as well because our research high performance team tells us that," McRae said.
"We've got a person in that's doing a great job ... we're doing things that we haven't done before.
"We're in a process of trying to make sure that it's not an issue."
McRae confirmed Collingwood would be active in Wednesday's mid-season rookie draft.
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