BREAKING NEWS: Collingwood focuses in on potential replacements for…. READ MORE

The Pies’ chances of making the finals are slim to none as they must win their next three games both at home and away, beginning in Round 22 against the Swans.

Collingwood hasn’t had much luck at the SCG, losing six of their last eight meetings, including the 2022 preliminary final by a single point.

Match-winning player Jordan De Goey suffered a serious hamstring injury during Collingwood’s mini-resurrection over the last two weeks, despite the team defeating archrivals Richmond and Carlton to maintain their flag defense. McRae claims De Goey is irreplaceable.

“We don’t take Jordy’s place,” McRae declared.

“We consider other possibilities and paths, but he cannot be replaced.

“He can truly have a huge effect in games and his center bounce work is on par with anyone in the competition.

“We will investigate further into what that entails as he has the ability to play both forward and midfield, as well as occasionally in between those phases.

“So, hard to replace, but we’ll find someone that can do something (similar).”

Harvey Harrison, Lachie Sullivan, and Finlay Macrae are the first three names that spring to mind as De Goey’s replacement. Each of them has spent sizable periods of time on the senior team.

While Nathan Kreuger has been cleared from concussion protocols and might be used to assist stretch the defense of the undersized Swan, Patrick Lipinski may also be promoted from the sub role.

Sydney has lost five of their previous six games, including a 112-point thrashing at the hands of Port Adelaide last week. This means that the ladder leaders are sitting precariously moving into September.

McRae is buying into the “outlier” match, claiming that John Longmire’s team is winning because the Power are crushing the Swans.

According to McRae, “It was a game like I hadn’t seen before.” Additionally, I believe it is difficult to quantify those outlier games.

However, there are a few points (that we’ll exclude from Port Adelaide’s actions).

“We’re confident going in, but you would think they would be different after last week’s aberration.

“John (Longmire) is discussing competition; they are a high-stakes team and remain at the top of the standings for a reason.

“They got a lot of quality and will be hard to beat them at home.”

After the excitement of Scott Pendlebury’s historic victory, teammate and best friend Howe joins in the festivities as he gets ready for his 250th.

On Friday, the former Demon will don the black and white for the 150th time after playing 100 games for Melbourne.

“We’ve got a plan we’ll tackle with… milestones are one thing but we don’t want to play better because of a milestone,” McRae stated.

“We don’t want to play with greater urgency due to a landmark.

“We have our DNA linked to those things, and we want to play by a specific level.

“Our supporters want to see us perform at our best every week.

“And milestones are the cream of the cake and we’ll celebrate (Howe) before the game, and ideally after as well.”