Mick Malthouse’s attack lacked bite against Geelong last week, managing 6.14 in its 36-point loss to the reigning premiers.
Collingwood travels north to take on a wounded Brisbane Lions outfit on Saturday night, and football manager Geoff Walsh said Medhurst would again be absent from the line-up.
“He wasn’t [able to train] … and on the basis of that he won’t be available for selection,” Walsh said on Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s a foot problem that he’s had before, and it hasn’t responded as quickly as we thought, so he certainly won’t be available this week, but we’re hopeful that next week he’ll be up and going.
“He had a stress reaction last time, a bit of a hot spot in the foot, which is not a fracture or anything like that but there’s a bit of pain there so we just want to make sure he can control that pain first and then hopefully get him back up and going.”
The Pies meet Michael Voss’s team at the Gabba, with the Lions’ home turf coming in for criticism in recent weeks for its hardness underfoot.
But Walsh said that had no bearing on the Medhurst decision.
“He’s not able to train, so the ground there’s not really the issue,” he said.
“It’s more the ability to able to run across the ground on any surface, really.”
Collingwood’s depth ensures Malthouse has a raft of options for Saturday’s clash.
Several experienced stars such as Josh Fraser, Simon Prestigiacomo and Tarkyn Lockyer have all spent time in the VFL in recent weeks and will push for a recall for the Lions’ clash.
“All those guys had a great last game in the VFL,” Walsh said.
“They all were very prominent in the stats and with their form overall, so they’d all be in contention, there’s no doubt about that.
“I don’t think there’ll be any compulsory changes [from the Geelong game]. From a selection point of view there may well be, but we’ll see how blokes pull up tomorrow.”
Walsh confirmed small forward Brad Dick, who played his first match for the season two weeks ago, would spend another week in the VFL.
“Hopefully he’s not too far away from senior selection,” he said.
“Now it all comes down to form because his fitness is there, so hopefully he pushes in on a form basis.”
