Collingwood’s Steele Sidebottom has addressed the ongoing illness issues currently occurring at the Magpies.
The Pies’ sickness concerns date back two weeks to before their Round 5 clash against St Kilda in Gather Round, which saw Jordan De Goey miss the contest due to lingering effects.
The concerns remain in the buildup to Collingwood’s Anzac Day blockbuster against Essendon, with Darcy Moore forced to leave training due to sickness, while fringe tall Nathan Kreuger trained separately to his teammates.
However, Magpies coach Craig McRae has since confirmed Kreuger's fitness, confident that he will play against Essendon.
Despite the ongoing issues, Sidebottom doesn’t seem overly concerned about the overall health of the club.
“There has been some sickness probably the last couple of weeks and you know guys have had to stay away and come back when they’re ready,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“We’ll have 23 (players) out there, same as the Bombers tomorrow night.”
Sidebottom went on to confirm that midfield superstar De Goey is fit to play against Essendon.
“De Goey is good to go,” he said.
“He was training yesterday, he’s good to go, unless he got crook again yesterday night.”
Sidebottom also addressed Collingwood’s current ruck situation, placing confidence in the pairing of Billy Frampton and Nathan Kreuger.
“We’ve clearly had our ruckmen go down, I think Billy (Frampton)’s role last week, Billy’s the kind of guy that you put a role in front of him and he’s happy to do it, he’s got that little bit of mongrel in him as well, which is nice for a guy going in the ruck,” he said.
“You mentioned (Nathan Kreuger), I think he’s a similar type of player, he’ll come in and just throw himself around, whether he has to play forward or back and just see where that lands.
“They’re both two guys that will have a crack for us, they’ll just play a role like everyone else.”
With both Collingwood and Essendon currently jostling for position in the top four, this year’s ANZAC Day clash is poised to be one of the most important in recent history, getting underway at 3:20pm (AEST) on Tuesday.