2017 Pre-Season Game 1 Squad Named

Collingwood News - Luke Mason

Collingwood Pre Season Game 1 Squad
1. Alex Fasolo 2. Jordan De Goey 5. Jamie Elliott 6. Tyson Goldsack 9. Jesse White 11. Jarryd Blair 12. Matthew Scharenberg 14. James Aish 15. Lynden Dunn 16. Chris Mayne 18. Travis Varcoe 19. Levi Greenwood 21. Tom Phillips 22. Steele Sidebottom 23. Lachlan Keeffe	25. Jack Crisp 26. Josh Daicos 28. Ben Sinclair 30. Darcy Moore 31. Jackson Ramsay 32. Will Hoskin-Elliott 37. Brayden Maynard 38. Jeremy Howe 40. Josh Smith 41. Henry Schade* 43. Adam Oxley 44. Liam Mackie* 45. Max Lynch* 46. Mason Cox* *Denotes rookie

Jamie Elliott headlines a pack of Magpies who are set to return to senior football after lengthy absences in Collingwood’s JLT Community Series opener against Essendon.
The team includes three untried players, four experienced recruits and a further four players who have not played senior football for some time.

The comeback kings
The match will be momentous for Elliott and young teammates Matthew Scharenberg and Jackson Ramsay, will play their first games of any kind since undergoing major surgery.
Elliott, as has been well documented, has not played senior football since the final round of the 2015 season. A back injury laid him low during the pre-season and eventually saw him sent in for surgery.

PRE-SEASON DRAW MATCH 1 Thursday, 16 February Collingwood v Essendon Etihad Stadium 19:40 EDT MATCH 2 Saturday, 4 March Fremantle v Collingwood Rushton Park, Mandurah 13:40 WST MATCH 3 Saturday, 11 March Richmond v Collingwood Ted Summerton Reserve, Moe 13:10 EDT

"To be honest, I didn't know what was going to happen (with my injury)," Elliott said during a live interview on Collingwood’s Facebook page last Wednesday.
"I had good days and bad days. I still do, but I am finding a way to manage my back in terms of preparation and recovery leading into training sessions."
For Scharenberg and Ramsay, the match will mark their returns from knee reconstructions.
Ramsay underwent his in April 2016 following a training mishap.
Scharenberg, meanwhile, has not played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament during a training session in November 2015.

Back into the fray
Lachlan Keeffe is in line to make his return to senior football.
The 26-year-old’s two-year anti-doping suspension expired on 10 February.
Should he play against Essendon, it will 902 days since Keeffe’s last senior appearance against Hawthorn in the final round of the 2014 season.
Coach Nathan Buckley has already hinted that Keeffe, historically used as a key defender, may be trialled up forward.
“We know Keeffey can play down back if required but our depth charts indicate he may be a better chance of playing senior footy as a forward/ second ruckman,” Buckley wrote in an AFL Media Facebook Q&A.
“He has trained really well and will be ready when called upon. (He) came back very fit.”

Josh Daicos impressed during Wednesday's intra-club match at the Holden Centre.

Another Macedonian Marvel
Collingwood fans have been pining for the sight of a Daicos in a Black and White jumper since Peter’s final game in round 10, 1993.
For the most one-eyed of Pies, Thursday night could mark the end of a 23 year-7 month-6 day drought.
Eighteen-year-old Josh Daicos has been named in the 29-man squad after a fine performance in Wednesday’s intra-club match.
“Josh looked really good. Whichever grade he steps up to, he looks like he can handle it," assistant coach Brenton Sanderson after the game.
“He looks poised and balanced with the footy, a bit like his Dad.”
Daicos, along with rookies Liam Mackie and Max Lynch, are the three untried players in Thursday’s squad.

Old faces, new jumper
It’s not just the uncapped and once-injured Magpies who will be a little toey on Thursday night.
Lynden Dunn, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Chris Mayne and Henry Schade are in line to play their first games in a Collingwood jumper after arriving from other AFL clubs during the off-season.
All four performed well in Wednesday’s intra-club match and will be eager to develop an on-field chemistry with their new teammates.

Squad rules
Both teams are to name a 29-man squad before trimming the group to 26 on game day. Both sides will play with eight players on the interchange bench with no substitutes.

Absentees
Senior Magpies who will sit out Thursday’s match include Taylor Adams, Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Ben Reid, Adam Treloar and Daniel Wells. In Pendlebury’s absence, Steele Sidebottom will captain the side.