Anthony Koutoufides said at the President’s Dinner prior to Saturday night’s game against Brisbane that he will be back in action for round 7, the Peter Mac Cup match against Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday May 12th. “I will be right for the match against Collingwood and depending on how it goes this week I may even be right for Friday night’s match against St Kilda, although it may be a little early,” Koutoufides told guests in the President’s Dinner.

Koutoufides had the guard removed from his hand early last week and has had daily sessions with the hand therapist in a bid to return to playing as soon as possible. “I am feeling very fit and certainly my running has been great but I really wont know how I am going until I can start handling the football as I haven’t been able to do this since I had the operation. I certainly hope to get the all clear this week to strap the finger and start training,” he said on Saturday night.

This morning at training at MC Labour Park Koutoufides wore a glove on his right hand and while not marking the ball with two hands he did complete the training and will no doubt be doing everything possible to be ready for Friday night. Daily visits to the hand therapist this week and additional training sessions on top of the main training schedule at 9.30am at MC Labour Park on Wednesday will determine how quickly he returns.

As well as discussing his return to football Koutoufides also spoke about his trip to Perth and the wonderful ovation he received from the WA members at the official pre-match function prior to the game against West Coast. “I couldn’t believe it, when I was introduced they gave me a standing ovation,” he said referring to the welcome he received when he was a surprise guest at the function. Of course he also spoke about the return trip to Perth on President Richard Pratt’s private jet and that he wondered if Richard had known anyone to eat as much as he did on the trip. “On the way over the snacks and sandwiches were great but I was still hungry so I had a steak and then on the way back I had two barramundi.”