> Watch assistant coaches Nathan Buckley, Mark Neeld and Scott Watters address the media on WednesdayCOLLINGWOOD assistant coach Nathan Buckley says forward Leon Davis’s ability to put pressure on defenders would weigh in his favour when it came to selection for Saturday’s grand final.
Click here to recap the live chat from Gosch's Paddock.
But Buckley warned that it was only one factor that would be considered.
Davis missed last week with hamstring tightness and faces a battle to get back into the side for the final match of the year.
Buckley said at Wednesday’s open training session that Davis was the leading inside-forward 50 tackler in the home-and-away season, and his speed and intensity in putting pressure on opposition backlines had been critical.
“But we’ve got a lot of guys who do that,” Buckley said.
“Everyone’s expected to, and as I said, the six forward roles have all been able to do that as a small team within a team.
“Leon’s been a part of that for most of it, so we’ve got the decision to make on whether he’s going to be a part of it on Saturday.”
Click here to view the photo gallery from Wednesday's training.
Buckley said the side was clearly more assured of its right to contest a grand final than it had been in 2002 and 2003.
“I think we probably felt we were reaching on ‘02-’03,” he said.
“You can’t play beyond yourself, but we were playing at our very best to get to where we got to.
“Last week, speaking with a few boys, we were quite relaxed going into the Geelong game, we had a great belief in our structures and our preparation.
“That’s been vindicated through the second half of the year - our processes have all been the same, we try to control what we can control, and I think the players are very confident in that structure, in that routine, in that timetable.
“That gives them comfort, gives them confidence, so there’s definitely that in the group.”
Buckley was initially dismissive when asked about Travis Cloke and the goalkicking in general from the Magpies.
“Nah, it’s been a bigger concern for you guys (the media) than it has been for us,” he said.
But when pushed on Cloke later in the media conference, he expanded a little.
“The consistency in his routine is better now than it was at the beginning of the year,” he said.
“He’s progressed steadily throughout the season and I think he’s in as good a nick now as he has been from a routine perspective.”
