More Collingwood midfielder Taylor Adams has been ruled out of the grand final.
Collingwood midfielder and vice-captain Taylor Adams has been ruled out of the AFL grand final after pulling up sore at training.
Adams did not participate in Collingwood’s preliminary final triumph over GWS last Friday night, but he has been pushing his case to play in the club’s first grand final since 2018.
The 30-year-old was the first player out on the field at the AIA Centre on Tuesday, but he departed the track early and will not be available for Saturday’s decider against the Brisbane Lions at the MCG.
“Unfortunately for Taylor Adams, who experienced hamstring awareness during training today, he will miss the grand final,” Magpies coach Graham Wright said.
“Taylor is a true professional and a true leader both on and off the field, and we will wrap our arms around him and support him this week.”
“Taylor was incredibly eager to be out there with his teammates and left no stone unturned in his rehabilitation and recovery, and we all share in his disappointment.”
Collingwood is considering who will step in for Daniel McStay, who was ruled out of the grand final against his former club due to a knee injury.
Billy Frampton, a versatile tall forward, practiced with the Magpies’ forwards on Tuesday and could be called up to replace McStay, who last played in round 24 against Essendon.
Meanwhile, Collingwood coach Scott Pendlebury is more confident in his team winning close games than he has ever been in his storied career.
At the close of his 18th AFL season, the star veteran is gearing up for his sixth grand final.
Pendlebury, on the other hand, has never been more confident in the Magpies’ ability to win close games.
Collingwood’s signature has been comeback victories under coach Craig McRae.
However, in their two nail-biting finals victories over Melbourne and GWS, they have come under enormous duress in the final quarter when they have had to painfully defend a lead.
“We definitely train those last few minutes situations a lot more in the last two years than I ever did across my whole career,” Pendlebury told the BBC.
“In those moments, we know exactly what we want to do with or without the ball.
“We train that not just occasionally, but every training session for the last few minutes of our matchplay.”
“We know what to do if it’s tight, what to do if we’re up or down by a few points, and what to do if we need to get the game back on that situation.”
“But hopefully for us and our supporters, it’s not tight and we don’t have to do it.”
Rather than being concerned in the closing phases of a close game, Pendlebury stated that there was true faith in the entire team.
“There’s trust and confidence that I know what everyone around me is going to do and how we want to play,” said the Norm Smith medalist from 2010.
“I feel like there’s a lot of anxiety in the crowd, and my family definitely let me know about it after the game with all the things that were going to happen.”
“I’m sort of oblivious to that because I’m the one that’s doing it.”
