COLLINGWOOD superstar Nick Daicos has been cleared to face North Melbourne on Sunday after being substituted out of the King’s Birthday win over Melbourne.
The 21-year-old trained fully at the AIA Centre on Friday morning, showing no signs of the corked shin that forced him off the MCG midway through the fourth quarter on Monday.
"There is a lot of media down here to see if Nick was going to get through training. He is good to go," Collingwood coach Craig McRae confirmed on Friday.
"We played Monday so we didn't do anything with him on Wednesday. Today was an opportunity for him to get out there and move. He moved pretty well so he will be right for Sunday."
The news is not so good for premiership defender Oleg Markov, who didn’t train on Friday despite being named in the 26-man squad on Thursday night, with his place against the Kangaroos in doubt.
"Pre-training we do some hands work inside and he jarred his back, so he couldn't train," McRae said.
"He is going to be a race to the line, so it will be interesting to see if he gets up."
If Markov doesn't prove his fitness in time, first-year half-back Tew Jiath is in line to make his debut on Sunday after being selected at pick No.37 in last November's AFL Draft.
The Gippsland Power product, who is the younger brother of Hawthorn's Changkuoth and also boarded at Xavier College, has played eight VFL games this year and been included in the extended squad.
"I just love the way he expresses himself on the footy field," McRae said.
"He goes for his marks like his brother for Hawthorn. He is a talent. I think he is going to be really nice player for us."
All-Australian defender Brayden Maynard will become the first player from the 2014 draft class to reach 200 games this weekend, reaching the milestone just ahead of Harris Andrews, Christian Petracca, Isaac Heeney and Touk Miller.
McRae said the club will recognise the milestone internally on Saturday, inviting his family to the AIA Centre – Maynard's father Peter played for Melbourne before a decorated SANFL career, while his brother Corey played two games for the Demons and is now North Melbourne's head of player welfare – to mark the occasion.
"Bruzzy's 200th is something we will celebrate tomorrow. We'll get his family in, 200 games at this level is really, really hard to do," McRae said.
"The way he has gone about it, the way he has put on the jumper and represents himself – you see the tough exterior, we see the big cuddly teddy bear he is inside our walls, he appreciates others, he cares for others."
Collingwood had three noteworthy track watchers on Friday, including Melbourne and Fremantle champion Jeff Farmer, who accepted an invitation from the senior coach.
"It's funny, his son is actually a Collingwood supporter, so he came down to get a signed jumper. I said to him to bring his son down next time," he said.
Former Australian cricketers David Hussey and Chris Rogers were also onlookers alongside Justin Leppitsch, with club inviting the pair from Cricket Victoria to spend time in the program, like they have done with a handful of others in the past.
Collingwood won't get any reprieve on the injury front this week, but Jordan De Goey, Scott Pendlebury and Brody Mihocek are all expected to be available for the trip to Queensland to face Gold Coast after the mid-season bye.
Mason Cox has now cleared concussion protocols and is building his rehabilitation program after injuring his MCL in the draw against Fremantle in round 11.
