Collingwood forward Dan McStay will make a miraculous return to football this weekend after overcoming an ACL injury sustained in November last year.
McStay will feature in the VFL side facing Geelong at Victoria Park on Saturday, aiming to make a case for Craig McRae’s senior team later in the year.
The former Lion was one of the heartbreak stories of the 2023 premiership, missing the decider against his old club due to a separate knee injury sustained in the preliminary final win against GWS.
295 days after his last competitive game, McStay will make his return to football in this Saturday’s Collingwood VFL clash against Geelong at Victoria Park.
Despite a serious knee injury typically requiring around 12 months of recovery, McStay’s determined approach to rehabilitation has accelerated his return.
“Yeah, Dan’s going to play VFL this week. He’s been out for eight months, and it’s a testament to how hard he’s worked to get his chance to come back and play,” McRae said on Wednesday.
“At AFL level, you can’t play with compromise. At VFL level, we can manage his minutes, so Dan will play some minutes.”
The positive news continued with veteran forward Jamie Elliot likely to suit up for the first time since Round 8.
“If training form is anything to go by, he’ll be hard not to pick,” McRae said.
However, the news wasn’t as optimistic for Jeremy Howe, who appears unlikely to face the Cats in Round 18 due to hamstring awareness earlier in the week.
“Apparently, he had some awareness at training on Tuesday – we got a scan, and there was nothing on the scan. He came and trained today and still felt some awareness,” McRae said.
“It probably means he won’t play.”
With Howe likely to be absent and Brody Mihocek ruled out for the remainder of the season, Ash Johnson may return to the senior side after kicking five goals in the VFL.
Johnson has struggled in his three outings in 2024, remaining goalless on each occasion, but showed signs he’s ready for the elite level.
“I was really pleased to go down to Frankston and watch Ash perform at his best. We’ve been wanting him to come out of himself and grow,” McRae said.
“Anything in his area, he was marking it. His name will come up for consideration. I’d like to see him do it regularly, whether that’s with us or VFL, we’ll wait and see.”
