Collingwood coach Craig McRae has revealed that key tall Billy Frampton will miss the next “couple of weeks” with an injury.
With Darcy Cameron and Mason Cox out from Round 4 to Round 7, Frampton – a key defender - filled in valiantly as a ruck, being a crucial performer in the club’s four-straight wins.
While Cox is now back in the team, McRae revealed that Frampton will be sidelined after injuring his groin at training on Wednesday.
“I’ve got some bad news, he’s out,” McRae said on SEN The Run Home.
“He’s got a slight groin injury, he’ll miss a couple of weeks. “He did it at training yesterday, unfortunately.”
While Frampton will be sidelined for a period, his emergence at Collingwood has shocked many becoming a quality contributor after playing just 24 games across eight years at Port Adelaide and Adelaide.
McRae says he hopes to get the best out of players that haven’t had an opportunity in believing in them before they even believe in themselves.
“It’s about supporting players and backing them in, show us what you can do and just give them the belief before they've potentially got it themselves,” McRae said.
“Bobby Hill plays his 50th game this week against GWS and he's been down a little bit of form recently.
“But we’re saying, ‘Nah, we’ve got you mate, we’ve got you, we’ve got your back, go show us what you can do’, to a certain level.
“I think Billy is one that's been craving an opportunity.
“He's been playing well at VFL or SANFL last year and he craved opportunity and we're now throwing him in the ruck, well, we were (before his injury).”
Collingwood will be without Frampton when they face GWS at the MCG on Sunday evening.