Speaking at St Kilda Sea Baths at his club's recovery session on Monday morning, Magpie Harry O'Brien said his team’s forward line was likely to receive some much-needed potency for the twilight match with the eighth-placed Power.
“I think Paul Medhurst, (Alan) Didak and (Dale) Thomas, if all goes well, should be available, and they would be very handy 'ins' for us,” O’Brien said.
The defender said Collingwood's 22-point win over the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco Oval, which came after taking an injury-depleted side into the contest and overcoming a slow start, might be the turning point for the Magpies' season.
“Wins like that, when you've got your back against the wall, certainly can galvanise the group,” he said.
“We got a lot of confidence out of the game.”
Mick Malthouse and his team had been under the pump following consecutive losses to St Kilda and Carlton but O’Brien said the chance to escape the media scrutiny of their home town had served the side well.
“It was a good chance to get out of the football bubble that Melbourne is and I think that was the key.
“We like to stick together and that’s the way we’ve been playing away from home.”
The defender said players like Cameron Wood – who achieved a career-high 23 possessions against West Coast – and skipper Nick Maxwell had led superbly on Saturday night.
And now, with a far healthier 4-5 record, Collingwood is looking forward to what looms as an opportunity to make some ground on the top teams in the next month.
The Pies travel to ANZ Stadium in round 12 to take on the Sydney Swans – a fixture in which they have traditionally performed well – but have three matches at the MCG. Those games are against Port Adelaide this week, Melbourne on the Queen’s Birthday holiday and Fremantle in round 13.
“There’s no reason why we can’t win those games if we play the team football that we showed on the weekend,” O’Brien said.
For now, however, O’Brien and his teammates are looking no further than the Power – a team whose form – despite a forgettable loss to the Swans at the weekend – they won’t be underestimating.
“Their best is very good,” he said.
“We’ve seen them beat last year’s premiers in Hawthorn, so we know that they’re going to be very keen to get back to winning so we’re going to have a tough game on our hands.”
