Collingwood coach Craig McRae has voiced his support for the introduction of a mid-season trade period as the Magpies deal with a ruck injury crisis.
McRae’s side is likely to enter Thursday night’s match against Brisbane without a recognised ruckman after Darcy Cameron injured his medial ligament against Richmond in a blow that will sideline the emerging star for six to eight weeks.
Mason Cox was a late withdrawal from the Tigers clash with a haematoma from his rib injury, leaving the Magpies reliant on either untried SSP recruit Oscar Steene or a mix of their other key position players for at least two weeks.
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McRae said he had been extremely impressed by Steene’s start at Collingwood, but he was reluctant to give the 19-year-old South Australian a baptism of fire at the Gabba on Thursday.
“I just want to make it really clear we’re rapt with how he’s going,” McRae said.
“He has come in and really shown what he is capable of, I think we’ve got a player of the future, no doubting that.
“I’m not keen to put people to the wolves as you put it. I want to make sure we set them up to succeed, so we’re just going to make sure that’s the right time.”
McRae said the Magpies would need to come up with a “creative” option to combat the Brisbane duo of Oscar McInerney and Darcy Fort, which could involve a three-way rotation of former Lion Dan McStay, Billy Frampton and Ash Johnson.
“We were lucky on Friday night we got a little sample size – we played a quarter without a ruckman and had to be creative. We’ve got some things up our sleeve,” he said.
“We don’t have another key defender to come in and play that role if (Frampton) goes into the ruck, so I think that’s why we have to be a bit creative and some play fits with Bill and maybe Dan and maybe some others.”
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Collingwood would definitely want to add another ruckman to its list if there was the option, McRae said.
“I’m big on that mid-season trade. I think it would be great for the game within the right parameters,” he said.
“I think it will add something for the fans, and opportunities like this, for example, to come up where we might need someone.”
McRae said important defender Jeremy Howe would leave hospital and continue his recovery from his broken arm at home either on Monday or Tuesday, while Nathan Kreuger was quickly closing in on a return from a shoulder injury.
Kreuger was listed as six to eight weeks away from a return last week but trained strongly on Monday and would likely return to some match play in a few days, he said.
“Kreugs is only a couple of weeks away, so he’s trained really well,” he said.
