Coach Comments on Injury Incident
Both Collingwood coach Craig McRae and West Coast coach Andrew McQualter have downplayed the tension between their teams following Jamie Elliott’s injury. Elliott sustained the injury during the late stages of Scott Pendelbury’s record-breaking game, which Collingwood won by 10 points. He landed awkwardly after taking a mark.
Pies players were seen remonstrating with West Coast defender Tylar Young, seemingly believing he contributed to Elliott’s injury. McRae shared his thoughts on the incident, stating:
“You’re vulnerable when you’re in the air. I watched the replay, I was more concerned about Jamie, watching his body movements and the actual incident. Speaking to Jamie afterwards he said ‘why did I go for that mark’ because he normally just bodies and when the ball hits the ground… he just felt really vulnerable.”
McRae added that Elliott had a sense of awareness during the incident:
“This is the athlete, he said he felt in the air ‘oh no’. This is how he can see the game at such a slow speed at times but it’s hard to comment on the incident itself.”
McQualter defended his player and sent his best wishes to Elliott:
“Firstly, I really hope Jamie’s okay. It looked like a nasty incident and you don’t want anyone getting injured. I looked at it again, and I’m certain Tylar Young did nothing wrong in that marking contest. He was competing for the ball, he was in that marking contest and unfortunately accidents happen in our game. I don’t know what they were remonstrating for. It’s disappointing Jamie got injured but there’s nothing more to it.”
Player Injuries and Concerns
McRae was noncommittal when asked about the diagnosis of Elliott, who is contracted until the end of next season:
“Too early to make any diagnosis other than we’re hopeful. We hope for the best, we don’t know until scans. He’s in reasonable good spirits. We can’t rule anything out. Clearly he’s injured, just don’t know to what extent yet.”
Will Hayes was another player who did not finish the game due to a contact shoulder injury. McRae commented:
“It looks bad. It popped out but popped in quickly. You’re asking the wrong person around diagnosis but scans will reveal all. I’m not a doomsdayer but I’m worried he’d miss a fair chunk of the season from here on.”
Key Moments and Game Strategy
The game was marked by a milestone from an ageless champion, but it also featured an important Collingwood win. The Pies managed to secure victory with a late second-early third quarter onslaught, giving them a scoreboard buffer over the lowly Eagles.
McRae highlighted the importance of the game:
“The game was on a knife’s-edge late in the third quarter in to the last, but I just said to the players, it really wasn’t about style, points, margins, whatever, it was just about honouring ‘Pendles.’”
He also praised the Magpie army for turning out in droves to celebrate Pendelbury:
“I’ll never forget it. When you run out on to the ground and see the history of the footy club and most of the living greats and people who have made the foundations what they are – ex presidents and past players and just the incredible history, I feel so grateful to be part of it.”
Team Adjustments and Future Challenges
Darcy Moore’s injury and subsequent move into the ruck was a notable aspect of the game. McRae indicated that the decision was well planned:
“I had great hopes that Darcy Moore would be our second ruck. We wanted to do it versus the Cats and he gets concussed and then you can just see him being his Dad, marking everything behind the play. Unfortunately, he’s got a hamstring again, he can’t get himself moving the poor lad.”
McRae also addressed concerns about Moore’s workload:
“I don’t think so. We’ve managed his loads. He wasn’t playing a high percentage game time. I don’t know, we’ll work through all those things, but again his body’s given him feedback of what he’s capable of doing at this level right now.”
Post-Game Reflections
McRae emphasized the significance of the victory, which lifted Collingwood to 5-1-5 through 11 rounds. The team faces upcoming matches against fellow top 10 contenders Melbourne and Western Bulldogs, which could be crucial for their finals ambitions.
West Coast coach McQualter noted the positive growth within his squad despite the loss:
“I’m proud of the way we played, for sure. I thought we were really competitive on a big stage. We gave ourselves the chance to win, it’s disappointing we didn’t win because that’s what our aim was, we came here today and we thought we could win but I thought we saw growth in our players and team today.”
McQualter also reflected on the pressure faced by his team:
“Last week, we had a pressure game off the charts to be able to win a game of football so we’re not going to have that record level type of pressure every week so for us to play well, be competitive without (our pressure) being where we needed it to be, was a sign of growth.”
