Collingwood enter September football with questions swirling over their flag credentials, but Nick Daicos has issued a warning: underestimate them at your own risk.
The Magpies, who led the ladder for 11 straight weeks before a late-season slump saw them slip to fourth, will face Adelaide in a qualifying final on Thursday night.
The challenge is compounded by another setback to key defender Jeremy Howe, while forward Bobby Hill remains only an outside chance to feature after a long absence.
Yet Daicos, fresh from claiming the AFL Players’ Association MVP and a third All-Australian blazer, insists the group remains united and undaunted.
MORE: Legends Game mishap puts comedian in hospital with punctured lung
"Write us off at your own peril"
“We relish that. Write us off at your own peril, I guess,” Daicos told AAP. “We’re ready to go, we know our game’s in great shape and we can’t wait to get to Adelaide.”
Hill, who has managed just one senior outing in more than two months while addressing personal issues, has returned to training in recent days, providing a timely boost. “We know Bob’s super important to what we do and it’s sort of a day-by-day process with him,” Daicos said. “It’s so exciting to see him out there, running around with a ball in hand and taking blokes on.”
The Magpies’ clash with the Crows comes just a fortnight after their narrow three-point defeat in Adelaide, a fiery contest that left Daicos confident in his side’s ability to respond.
“(We learned) that our game’s in really good stead. They’re the ladder leaders and we lost the game by under a kick,” he said. “It probably could’ve gone either way so we know that if we play our best footy we’ll take it right up to them.”