COLLINGWOOD will finally regain a ruckman this weekend after Mason Cox proved his fitness during a physical training session at the AIA Centre on Friday. 

The Magpies have been forced to cope with a makeshift ruck situation after losing No.1 ruckman Darcy Cameron to a knee injury in round three. 

With Cox sidelined with a spleen injury since round two, Aiden Begg yet to play a game in 2023 due to a back issue and teenage rookie Oscar Steene not ready to be exposed to League football, Craig McRae has become creative across the past month. 

Recruit Billy Frampton has shouldered most of the load across fixtures against Brisbane, St Kilda, Essendon and Adelaide, returning to the role he started his AFL career playing, while Ash Johnson has provided a chop-out at times around support from Dan McStay and Nathan Kreuger.

Now Collingwood has a recognised ruckman available for Sunday's enthralling fixture against Sydney in the 32-year-old American, who is four games away from 100 AFL appearances and will face Peter Ladhams at the MCG.

"He got through training, so he will play," McRae told reporters on Friday.

"It is good to have someone tall back in the team and it also allows other things to fall back into place. We've had some moving parts in our team – everyone sees that – and now hopefully we get some stability in that part of our game. 

"That was the concern – has he done enough work? I back in our high performance team. [High performance manager] Jarrod Wade has put him up for selection. He hadn't done any physical contact until today, but clearly he made a statement today."

Six-time All-Australian Scott Pendlebury was named on Thursday night and is expected to play on Sunday after missing the trip to Adelaide due to a nasty eye injury that ended his Anzac Day early. 

"He is getting better every day. He is not quite there yet. He got through training and is improving every day. We'll pick him and he will be available," McRae said. 

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Key defender Nathan Murphy has also been cleared to play this weekend after being cleaned up late on Sunday by Adelaide spearhead Darcy Fogarty in an incident that didn't attract a free kick on the day.

Collingwood GM Graham Wright sort clarification from umpires' boss Dan Richardson earlier in the week, while McRae and Murphy found a way to make a lighter point on the track on Friday when the umpires were involved.  

"We had a bit of fun with the umpires today; we taped his head up just to make sure they saw that; we're allowed to have fun," he said. 

Luckless tall utility Nathan Kreuger won't play at any level after being subbed out of the one-point win at Adelaide Oval with a rib injury. 

The 23-year-old has endured a nightmare run with injuries since joining the club from Geelong at the end of 2021, managing only seven appearances around two shoulder reconstructions and several other setbacks during his first 18 months in black and white.

"We're looking after him. Unfortunately he has had a lot of different injuries in his time with us. He has a bit of a sore rib, so he is treating that and won't play at any level this weekend," he said.

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"He has played seven games, two as a sub, done both shoulders, cracked rib and a broken finger in his first seven games. We are here to love and support him. We want to make sure he gets out there and shows what he is good at."

Brownlow Medal favourite Nick Daicos entered and exited Sunday's game sore and has been freshened up this week.

The 20-year-old hasn't missed a game since making his debut in round one last year, producing a stunning first 32 games, but McRae said the Magpies will manage Daicos' training workload to ensure he can continue to play at his best.

"He was a little bit sore going into the game. We looked after him post-game," he said.

"People forget he is a young body; he is only in his second year; he hasn't played much footy prior to last year. We've got to look after him. 

"I liken him to horses; two-year-old horses don't race too often, some do, but he played every game last year and didn't have a spell. Recover and go again, we're going to have to do that during the week."