AFL 2025: Collingwood will keep Steele Sidebottom and Darcy Moore on ice for its clash with North Melbourne
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
In-form Collingwood veteran Steele Sidebottom will sit out of this weekend's clash with North Melbourne to manage a 'grumbling back'.
Sidebottom has delivered a brilliant opening half of the season, highlighted by Anzac Day Medal honours in the wet against Essendon.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae said Sidebottom was due for a rest and the flare up in his back paved the way for it to be this week.
'Steele is going to rest this week, we'll manage him, that's been the plan for a number of weeks. He's had a bit of a grumbling back,' McRae said.
'But he's had that for, I want to say, the last six or seven years, to be honest.
'Every week he said 'nah, I'll be right, we'll get there' and then slowly but surely he's expressed himself a bit more.
'We've had to deliver a plan to manage him this week.'
Steele Sidebottom (left) will be rested this week. Picture: Michael Klein
Captain Darcy Moore (shoulder) won't play this week, while Dan Houston (calf) will be named despite showing discomfort at training.
Moore missed last week after hurting his shoulder in the dying minutes of Collingwood's previous win over Fremantle.
Houston sat out of main training earlier in the week and did some fitness testing on Thursday with heavy bandaging on his right leg.
McRae said Houston 'did a great job to get up' and will face the Kangaroos unless he pulls up sore on Friday.
'Dan had a bigger limp at the start of the week, so we're rapt with how he's gone about it,' he said.
'He'll play at the moment as long as he doesn't pull up sore tomorrow. We'll name him, credit to him he did a great job to get up this week.
'It's looking unlikely for Darcy at this stage, I think we'll rule him out … he's another one who put himself right in the frame to play, unfortunately there's just a little bit of lingering stuff in the AC joint at the moment.'
Originally published as AFL 2025: Collingwood will keep two of its stars on ice for its clash with North Melbourne
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Voss says Blues' fix won't happen in 'zero to 100'
Michael Voss much prefers having Carlton's problem to Essendon's. Once again, the Blues faded in the second half on Saturday night at the MCG, holding on this time to beat the Bombers 11.12 (78) to 11.4 (70) in a pulsating AFL clash. Voss was furious at three-quarter time after they squandered a 38-point lead early in the second term. Conversely, for the second week in a row, Essendon had to fight their way back into the match after a poor first quarter, on the way to a narrow loss. "It's a good problem to have if you're in front by that much and you're getting that many opportunities - it's a good problem to try and solve," Voss said "The harder one to solve is you're behind all the time, you get no opportunities and you're trying to win the game from a completely negative base. "So it just depends on how you look at it." Voss also said Carlton had worked hard on the problem in their mid-season bye, but it would not be fixed immediately. "It's a step at a time. We're not going to go from zero to 100 in 5.8 seconds here," he said. "The bye gave us an opportunity to look at all those things and maybe did a bit more into the 'why'. "Some of that was around our ball movement, some of that was just being to make sure we can execute for longer and continue to persist." A highlight was the debut of ruck-forward Hudson O'Keeffe, who was a late addition when Harry McKay was forced out with knee soreness. He took five contested marks in an eye-catching game and Voss revealed post-game that O'Keeffe had made big improvements in the last few weeks. "Six weeks ago, I didn't think he was AFL-ready," Voss said. There were also positives for Essendon, with Darcy Parish making a strong return from injury and their undermanned defence against bearing up well after being under siege in the first quarter. "We're certainly optimistic about what we're building, but I said to the players, we're all competitive people and we should never be satisfied coming away and not getting what we're after," said Bombers coach Brad Scott.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Voss says Blues' fix won't happen in 'zero to 100'
Michael Voss much prefers having Carlton's problem to Essendon's. Once again, the Blues faded in the second half on Saturday night at the MCG, holding on this time to beat the Bombers 11.12 (78) to 11.4 (70) in a pulsating AFL clash. Voss was furious at three-quarter time after they squandered a 38-point lead early in the second term. Conversely, for the second week in a row, Essendon had to fight their way back into the match after a poor first quarter, on the way to a narrow loss. "It's a good problem to have if you're in front by that much and you're getting that many opportunities - it's a good problem to try and solve," Voss said "The harder one to solve is you're behind all the time, you get no opportunities and you're trying to win the game from a completely negative base. "So it just depends on how you look at it." Voss also said Carlton had worked hard on the problem in their mid-season bye, but it would not be fixed immediately. "It's a step at a time. We're not going to go from zero to 100 in 5.8 seconds here," he said. "The bye gave us an opportunity to look at all those things and maybe did a bit more into the 'why'. "Some of that was around our ball movement, some of that was just being to make sure we can execute for longer and continue to persist." A highlight was the debut of ruck-forward Hudson O'Keeffe, who was a late addition when Harry McKay was forced out with knee soreness. He took five contested marks in an eye-catching game and Voss revealed post-game that O'Keeffe had made big improvements in the last few weeks. "Six weeks ago, I didn't think he was AFL-ready," Voss said. There were also positives for Essendon, with Darcy Parish making a strong return from injury and their undermanned defence against bearing up well after being under siege in the first quarter. "We're certainly optimistic about what we're building, but I said to the players, we're all competitive people and we should never be satisfied coming away and not getting what we're after," said Bombers coach Brad Scott.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Kangaroos keen to muscle in on footy-mad WA
North Melbourne want to become Western Australia's third-favourite team, and coach Alastair Clarkson hopes the club's rich Sandgroper history will help make it a happy marriage with fans. The Kangaroos' three-year deal to sell two games a season to WA got off to the perfect start on Sunday when they beat West Coast by 10 points in Bunbury. North Melbourne will "host" Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Saturday night, with each game the club has sold to WA worth a reported $1m. The contract helps replace the deal North Melbourne previously had with Tasmania, and coach Alastair Clarkson says WA is a good fit for his club. "We have seven or eight West Australians on our list," Clarkson said. "Historically our club has had a strong link - Brownlow medallist in Ross Glendinning, the Krakouer magic of Jimmy and Phil and many others. "Our connection to the west has been strong. "To get an opportunity to play some home games here - it has been such a fertile football state in terms of their passion for AFL footy. "It seems for the state two teams aren't enough, so we've provided them with the third team, and we're happy to do so." The Kangaroos will host one game a year in Bunbury and the other one at Optus Stadium. Sunday's match at Hands Oval attracted a sell-out crowd of 12,715 fans and was the first time an AFL regular-season game had been played in regional WA. The deal appears to create a win-win situation, with North Melbourne receiving vital funds, and West Coast and Fremantle being able to play an extra game in WA, without their usual rigours of travelling to eastern states. "With Tassie (the new club in Tasmania) coming in, we had to find another base to provide us with the opportunity to have a nice, happy marriage," Clarkson said. "We get paid some money to play games here, but we love coming here and fostering relationships with people in the south west. "There are a lot of locals here and a lot came from Perth - Eagles fans - and there are a stack that have jumped on planes that must please Tourism WA, who made the significant investment in getting North to come here and play games of footy." The Kangaroos trailed by 18 points in the last quarter before kicking the final four goals of the match to snatch the 9.8 (62) to 6.16 (52) win. It means North Melbourne, with three wins and a draw to their name, are now two-and-a-half wins clear of wooden spoon favourites West Coast (1-12). Kangaroos defender Charlie Comben was sent off for scans after sustaining a knee to the back in the third quarter. North Melbourne want to become Western Australia's third-favourite team, and coach Alastair Clarkson hopes the club's rich Sandgroper history will help make it a happy marriage with fans. The Kangaroos' three-year deal to sell two games a season to WA got off to the perfect start on Sunday when they beat West Coast by 10 points in Bunbury. North Melbourne will "host" Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Saturday night, with each game the club has sold to WA worth a reported $1m. The contract helps replace the deal North Melbourne previously had with Tasmania, and coach Alastair Clarkson says WA is a good fit for his club. "We have seven or eight West Australians on our list," Clarkson said. "Historically our club has had a strong link - Brownlow medallist in Ross Glendinning, the Krakouer magic of Jimmy and Phil and many others. "Our connection to the west has been strong. "To get an opportunity to play some home games here - it has been such a fertile football state in terms of their passion for AFL footy. "It seems for the state two teams aren't enough, so we've provided them with the third team, and we're happy to do so." The Kangaroos will host one game a year in Bunbury and the other one at Optus Stadium. Sunday's match at Hands Oval attracted a sell-out crowd of 12,715 fans and was the first time an AFL regular-season game had been played in regional WA. The deal appears to create a win-win situation, with North Melbourne receiving vital funds, and West Coast and Fremantle being able to play an extra game in WA, without their usual rigours of travelling to eastern states. "With Tassie (the new club in Tasmania) coming in, we had to find another base to provide us with the opportunity to have a nice, happy marriage," Clarkson said. "We get paid some money to play games here, but we love coming here and fostering relationships with people in the south west. "There are a lot of locals here and a lot came from Perth - Eagles fans - and there are a stack that have jumped on planes that must please Tourism WA, who made the significant investment in getting North to come here and play games of footy." The Kangaroos trailed by 18 points in the last quarter before kicking the final four goals of the match to snatch the 9.8 (62) to 6.16 (52) win. It means North Melbourne, with three wins and a draw to their name, are now two-and-a-half wins clear of wooden spoon favourites West Coast (1-12). Kangaroos defender Charlie Comben was sent off for scans after sustaining a knee to the back in the third quarter. North Melbourne want to become Western Australia's third-favourite team, and coach Alastair Clarkson hopes the club's rich Sandgroper history will help make it a happy marriage with fans. The Kangaroos' three-year deal to sell two games a season to WA got off to the perfect start on Sunday when they beat West Coast by 10 points in Bunbury. North Melbourne will "host" Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Saturday night, with each game the club has sold to WA worth a reported $1m. The contract helps replace the deal North Melbourne previously had with Tasmania, and coach Alastair Clarkson says WA is a good fit for his club. "We have seven or eight West Australians on our list," Clarkson said. "Historically our club has had a strong link - Brownlow medallist in Ross Glendinning, the Krakouer magic of Jimmy and Phil and many others. "Our connection to the west has been strong. "To get an opportunity to play some home games here - it has been such a fertile football state in terms of their passion for AFL footy. "It seems for the state two teams aren't enough, so we've provided them with the third team, and we're happy to do so." The Kangaroos will host one game a year in Bunbury and the other one at Optus Stadium. Sunday's match at Hands Oval attracted a sell-out crowd of 12,715 fans and was the first time an AFL regular-season game had been played in regional WA. The deal appears to create a win-win situation, with North Melbourne receiving vital funds, and West Coast and Fremantle being able to play an extra game in WA, without their usual rigours of travelling to eastern states. "With Tassie (the new club in Tasmania) coming in, we had to find another base to provide us with the opportunity to have a nice, happy marriage," Clarkson said. "We get paid some money to play games here, but we love coming here and fostering relationships with people in the south west. "There are a lot of locals here and a lot came from Perth - Eagles fans - and there are a stack that have jumped on planes that must please Tourism WA, who made the significant investment in getting North to come here and play games of footy." The Kangaroos trailed by 18 points in the last quarter before kicking the final four goals of the match to snatch the 9.8 (62) to 6.16 (52) win. It means North Melbourne, with three wins and a draw to their name, are now two-and-a-half wins clear of wooden spoon favourites West Coast (1-12). Kangaroos defender Charlie Comben was sent off for scans after sustaining a knee to the back in the third quarter.
