COLLINGWOOD star Jordan De Goey could miss the rest of the Magpies' 2024 campaign after suffering a suspected high-grade hamstring strain in Saturday night's dramatic three-point win over Carlton at the MCG.
The 28-year-old was immediately substituted out of the game late in the third quarter after hopping off the ground, before heading into the rooms and returning to the bench on crutches.
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De Goey will undergo scans on Sunday but the Magpies are bracing to be without the midfielder for most, if not all, of the remainder of the season.
High-grade hamstring strains traditionally require at least six weeks of recovery, although any tendon damage would extend that timeline.
Collingwood kept its slim finals chances alive by dramatically beating the Blues after Mitch McGovern missed a shot after the siren, but the victory was soured by the potentially season-ending injury to De Goey.
"I've just been told it's high-grade. Obviously, it's not great for him," Pies coach Craig McRae said.
"I would have thought it is difficult for him to play in the short to medium term. We'll get a scan and work through that."
Collingwood ensured Scott Pendlebury's special milestone was celebrated with four premiership points, after the 36-year-old became just the sixth player in VFL/AFL history to reach 400 games.
The six-time All-Australian starred once again in the 19th winter of his AFL career, finishing with 27 disposals, 14 contested possessions and six inside 50s.
"Nothing surprises me with this man," McRae said. "He is an incredible player. Some of the stuff he did late. Some of the stuff he did when we needed him; just watch his hands in traffic when we needed him. He probably gets sick of me saying this, but he is an incredible player. We will share a beer at some stage and maybe a red wine?"
After dropping four consecutive games for the first time under McRae, Collingwood has now won back-to-back matches to sit only one game outside the eight with three rounds to play.
McRae believes Saturday night's win over a premiership contender shows the Magpies aren't done yet in 2024.
"This is the time of year you want to get hot. We're not quite hot, but we're simmering. There is definitely some momentum coming," he said.
"We got personnel back in that (has) strengthened us up. There are some certain things in our game that we rely on and we can see. To win contested possession against this team is really important. For most of the game, it looked like a Collingwood style game. Some good signs."
Collingwood has a brutal run home and will need to beat Sydney at the SCG, Brisbane at the MCG and Melbourne in the final round if it is going to play finals again this year.
Carlton midfielder Adam Cerra is set for another stint on the sidelines after suffering a fifth hamstring strain in the past 12 months on Saturday night.
The 24-year-old has endured a nightmare soft tissue run, missing eight games already this year due to repeated hamstring strains.
Cerra was substituted out of the win over Melbourne in round nine and then in his return against Richmond in round 16, before exiting the game on Saturday night before half-time.
Blues coach Michael Voss also had to deal with Matt Cottrell injuring his shoulder in the third quarter and two-time Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow spraining his ankle.
"Cerra's (injured his) hamstring, so we will get scanned," Voss said. "Obviously he has had one before, so we will see where that one is comparatively to the others. We will scan that. Cottrell had the shoulder. We were down to three on the bench, then had Charlie coming off late. We will see how that pulls up."
Voss said Carlton showed its best form for a month in the final quarter but didn't take the chance it needed to after the siren when Mitch McGovern sprayed his shot from 50m.
"This game is made of moments. There will be a lot spoken about Gov's last moment, but it wasn't the only moment we needed to get right," Voss said.
"He is the man in the arena. Games are about opportunities. Some you get and some you don't. that was an opportunity to finish the game. There were plenty of others that we could have stood up on and didn't.
"From the last month, that's the best footy we've played in the last month. We've got to take that form from the last quarter and take it into next week and get after our next opponents."
