Pies' Elliott to miss Tigers clash in AFL
Mar 28, 2017 - 3:48 AM Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley will be without key soldier Jamie Elliott when Operation Stop Dusty is launched against Richmond at the MCG.Tigers star Dustin Martin was in career-best form in the AFL season-opener and nullifying him on Thursday night will go a long way to ensuring the Pies get their first win of the season.
But Buckley confirmed Elliott, who missed all of last season with a back injury, will miss another week with an ankle injury.
"He'll train again on Thursday and he'll be looking to put his hand up for Sydney (in round three)," Buckley told reporters on Tuesday.
"He's lightly raced this year with regards to footy, and he's missed a lot of footy over the past 18 months, but what he brings to the table is enticing.
"So if he can put two or three good footy (training) sessions together we may consider him for Sydney but he'd have to have everything go well."
Martin had 33 possessions, kicked four goals and gave off two more in a powerful display in Richmond's win over Carlton.
"He's almost impossible to tackle, so you need to sneak up on him and tackle him from behind ... we've been practising that," a smiling Buckley said.
"You can't help but be impressed with the shape he's in.
"You've got to put a fair bit of time into (him).
"(But)I think the modern philosophy is you don't put too much focus on one (player) because sides can kill with a thousand cuts in many different ways.
"(So) we're not ignoring Trent Cotchin, we're not ignoring Dion Prestia and Josh Caddy and their small forwards have speed and put a lot of pressure on."
The Pies are looking to bounce back after their season-opening loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Despite the 14-point defeat, Buckley said there was a lot to like about his side's first-up performance.
But he admitted his tall forwards needed to have more of an impact after they failed to make the most of a lopsided 62-44 inside 50 count against the Dogs.
"We take more marks and our big fellas do their job," Buckley replied when asked how he planned to rectify the issue.
"Credit to the Bulldogs defence but if you pick a side to advantage of that then your players need to do that job.
"Darcy (Moore), (Mason) Cox and Jesse (White) in particular ... their contest was really good, they brought the ball to ground, but we need to be able to make more of that aerial dominance."
Collingwood will also be without midfielder Travis Varcoe after the club elected not to challenge his one-week suspension for a high bump on Luke Dahlhaus.
Buckley is hopeful Daniel Wells (calf) will join full training next week and be ready to return via the VFL after a fortnight of full training.
Source: AAP
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