When it comes to wondering whether his teammate and close friend Jordan De Goey will stay at Collingwood, Jeremy Howe lets De Goey’s football do the talking.
According to Champion Data, De Goey’s first two finals are not far off what Richmond star Dustin Martin was doing in the 2017 finals series, which was around the time Leigh Matthews claimed Martin may have put together one of the best seasons on record.
Jordan De Goey (left) is out of contract at the end of this season, and Jeremy Howe says his friend’s football is doing the talking.Credit:AFL Photos
And as De Goey heads into a blockbuster preliminary final against Sydney this weekend, it remains unclear whether he will recommit to the Magpies or engage in a lucrative contract with St Kilda.
Either way, Howe is enjoying the ride.
“This time of year probably brings the best out in Jordy,” Howe said.
“It’s just nice to have him healthy, fit and firing. You can see the last two weeks and how influential he’s been and you can see the rewards for him playing the way he is at the moment.
“You can only judge him on the way he carries himself at the club and he certainly seems as invested as he ever has been and his training has been at a really high level. His games have been as consistent as they ever have been.
Collingwood defender Howe also defended his coach.Credit:AFL Photos
“Personally, with the conversations I have with him, I don’t go into contract stuff, I don’t think that’s fair on him and our relationship is not like that.
“He just lets his footy do the talking.”
Howe also defended his coach Craig McRae, and believes his teammates are well-prepared to take on Sydney within the confines of the SCG.
McRae recently conceded that he coached poorly in his side’s recent 27-point loss to the Swans in round 20 and the Magpies have taken the significant step of repainting the team’s training ground to the exact confines of the Saturday’s ground.
McRae has been widely lauded for his supreme coaching performance this season, taking a team that finished 17th last year to a potential grand final.
“He’s probably taking a little bit of responsibility there,” Howe said on Tuesday after training.
“We certainly felt, as players, well-prepped going into that game. We’ve just made a small couple of shifts going into this game.
“Early on in the last time we played, we felt like we got stuck on the boundary line a lot and it exposed us in the middle of the ground.
Craig McRae says he coached poorly when the Pies lost to the Swans in round 22.Credit:Getty Images
“It’s just getting used to the feel of the dimensions and the way we want to use the ball and also defend.”
McRae made the rare admission on Monday night, saying that he accepted he “failed” the players in not preparing them fully for the dimensions of the SCG.
“I told the players [on Monday] we’ll be better prepared for things like the shape of the ground, so we can train on it and be prepared for that,” McRae told Fox Footy.
“It’s nothing major, I’m just taking accountability for something I think I can do better.”
Collingwood have put together one of the more remarkable seasons in recent memory, which has included an 11-game winning streak and a series of agonisingly close victories.
But even so, Howe believes the last two weeks – which have included a nail-biting loss to Geelong – has provided his teammates with the perfect preparation for a premiership tilt.
“I feel like our last two weeks, especially, have really set ourselves up,” Howe said.
“I think the game against Geelong was one of our best games, even though we didn’t get the result.
“We took a lot of positivity out of that week, the way we reviewed it really strongly, had a positive vibe to it and took that into Fremantle.”
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