Collingwood captain Darcy Moore is “not playing at a level where he has,” but he retains the full support of coach Craig McRae ahead of Friday night’s showdown with Essendon, which Josh Daicos is likely to miss.
Defensive hardman Brayden Maynard “did more than enough” in Wednesday’s training to show he’s overcome a quad issue, but Daicos appeared “proppy,” according to McRae, as he deals with a corked calf. Daicos barely trained with his teammates, and McRae admitted he’s in a “race against the clock” to be fit for the match, with both teams coming off losses.
“So Josh, he still looks a little proppy to my eyes, but I’m being told that we’ll give him every opportunity,” McRae said. “So we’ll give him every chance to get to the line.”
Meanwhile, ruckman Darcy Cameron sustained a knee to the ribs during training, but McRae confirmed he would play.
Coach Craig McRae was quick to defend premiership skipper Darcy Moore, who has faced criticism for taking just a single intercept mark in Collingwood’s loss to the Suns on the Gold Coast last Saturday.
With regular tag-team defender Jeremy Howe playing a more forward role and without the retired Nathan Murphy, Moore’s 2024 performance has fallen short of his 2023 standards, a season in which he led his team to the premiership and earned All-Australian selection.
McRae recently had a “deep and meaningful” conversation with Moore, who is aware he’s not at his best. They are committed to working together on his improvement.
“Darcy and I catch up regularly and, funnily enough, last week we had a really good deep and meaningful chat on the couch about lots of things,” McRae said.
“We want Darcy at his best. He’s clearly not playing at the level he has previously – last year he was an All-Australian, and he’s not in All-Australian form.
“But we back him in, support him, and look for little ways we can improve him. We’re not gonna stand still because we need him to be at his best.”
Port Adelaide champion Kane Cornes described Moore’s form as “awful” and claimed he is only playing one good game in every six.
Moore has also faced scrutiny for his use of his knee in marking contests, which contributed to Melbourne star Christian Petracca suffering a punctured lung and Gold Coast captain Jarrod Witts fracturing a vertebrae. However, McRae stated that Moore remains unfazed by the criticism and is focused on improving areas of his game.
“He wouldn’t even know it’s happening. He’s such an introvert in terms of the footy media,” McRae said. “It’s a part of the game I’m not sure you can ever get rid of. I do think we are on the right track in protecting the head … whether it goes further than that, time will tell.”
Despite being overrun by the Suns after taking a late lead on the Gold Coast last week, McRae believes his team’s record in close games still commands respect from the competition.
“I didn’t realise we had an aura, but I’m sure if the game’s close, I wouldn’t have thought anyone would want to be playing against us,” he said.
The Magpies and Bombers last played on Anzac Day, with the match ending in a draw.