Collingwood travel to Sydney on Friday night for a blockbuster Round 22 clash in a bid to keep their finals chances alive.
The Pies are sitting in 11th position on the ladder, just a game outside the top 8, after their narrow three-point win over archrivals Carlton. The Black and White army will descend on a packed SCG hoping to upset the ladder-leading Swans who are in a form slump of late.
Against Carlton, 400-gamer Scott Pendlebury collected 27 disposals while Nick Daicos continued his strong season with 28 touches of his own. Will Hoskin-Elliott, Mason Cox and Jordan De Goey all booted two goals for the Magpies, however the visitors will be missing the latter for the Swans clash after suffering a season-ending hamstring injury in the same match.
The Swans form-slump has been stark, highlighted by a 112-point loss to the hands of Port Adelaide in Round 21. Errol Gulden was a rare shining light for the Swans, collecting 25 disposals in an otherwise poor performance. The home side welcome back experienced defender Dane Rampe from a soft tissue injuries who is one of three changes to the line up. Forward Joel Amartey returns after being managed against Port while Caiden Cleary and Braeden Campbell have been recalled to the line up. The four Swans replace Aaron Francis, Peter Ladhams, Sam Wicks and Corey Warner.
Sydney have already gotten the better of Collingwood once this season back in Round 1 at the MCG. On that occasion the Swans pressure got the better of the Magpies, winning by 33 points with Chad Warner, Isaac Heeney and Errol Gulden starring. Nick Daicos was a shining light for the home side gathering 37 disposals and a goal in a losing side.
Ahead of Friday night’s clash, Collingwood coach Craig McRae said his side can’t take anyone lightly, especially given the Swans form slump.
“This is the competition isn’t it, every team seems to have gone through it,” McRae said.
“We lost four games in a row, Geelong lost six or seven and you look at Sydney going through that now its such a tight competition.
“We respect those guys, but we go up there with a purpose this is going to be a huge game there is a lot at stake, so tune in Friday night should be a big one.”
Round 22 coincides with our Hall of Fame Game, an opportunity to honour our recent Hall of Famers on the main stage. The inductees will complete a lap of honour from 7:10pm ahead of first bounce at 7:40pm.
Heading to the game? Visit the Match Day Hub for everything you need to know. The game will be available watch live on Channel 7, Kayo and Fox Footy.
