Collingwood has made a brave call and put its faith in Jeremy Howe after opting to recall the defender for Saturday's preliminary final against Brisbane.
The 270-game veteran is a crucial member of the Pies' backline and has been named in place of Wil Parker, who was omitted.
It's a gamble of sorts by Craig McRae's selection committee after Howe endured a horror run over the back half of the season.
A mix of injuries and a concussion mean Howe hasn't played a full match since round 16, injuring an adductor muscle in the round 24 victory over Melbourne.
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McRae discussed the challenge in picking Howe prior to Thursday's training session.
"We are going to go to match committee and (will) make a decision on him," McRae said. "We need to weigh up whether he's fit to play or whether he's fit to perform.
"That’s been our mantra throughout the year based on the lessons of last year.
"The high-performance team will present those numbers in front of us and we’ll work through that decision."
Collingwood's strong victory over Adelaide in the opening week of the finals gave the club an extra week of rest and bought Howe some time.
The athletic 35-year-old conceded he feared the worst the morning after the Demons game.
"I got the scan the next morning and I was sitting there by my phone waiting for the results from the doc and he pretty much told me that it doesn't look great," Howe told Fox Footy's AFL360.
"The way that I did it was I'd already been off the ground before then. I ended up making a spoil on Bayley Fritsch from behind and ended up almost splitting my legs like a frog.
"I think it was going to go regardless. That's when I felt the pop, went off, got assessed. Tried to get back up and going.
"The damage was already done, so I managed to have a clean pop of the adductor."
But he immediately set about his rehabilitation and has just managed to get over the line for the grand final qualifier.
The AFL is littered with risky finals selection over players recovering from injuries, but the Pies clearly feel Howe has done enough to earn his place in the side for the 5.15pm opening bounce at the MCG on Saturday.