"Made their bed": Cornes on Pies' ill-fated list

Collingwood have made their bed and now it’s time to lie in it when it comes to managing their mounting casualty list, according to Kane Cornes.

The ageing Magpies list has been a topic of debate and scrutiny for more than 12 months and, despite a top four finish and impressive win of Adelaide in their first final, a 29-loss to the Lions in the prelim ended a season that should have gone longer.

The focus on the average of their club – which will be around 25.2 years going into 2026, the oldest in the league – was exacerbated by the clubs minimal action in the trade period.

Only this week, captain Darcy Moore and veteran Jeremy Howe sustained calf strains and will be out of action for at least two weeks.

They have been joined by Dan McStay who suffered a hamstring injury at training on Wednesday.

Adding to the list, premiership hero Beau McCreery has undergone foot surgery while Bobby Hill remains one extended personal leave.

With under 50 days to go before the season gets started, Cornes is not surprised the Pies find themselves in such a predicament.

“I’m not sure what they expect,” he said on SEN Breakfast. “When you assemble a list this old with that many players with injury history, they get worse as you age.

“The players we are seeing drop are old and have had soft tissue or significant injuries before.

“This is going to get worse for Collingwood as the year goes on and as demanding as it is.

“They have made their bed they have to lie in it.

"When you don’t revitalise your list and you depend on the older players that are injured and banged up, and they are still such key players.

“I’ll be staggered if Pendles plays more than 15 games, but they are still so reliant on him to play at a first-class level which is unfair on him.

"He should be playing 12 games and coming off the bench and being managed, but they can’t afford that because they are so reliant on these guys.”

Collingwood get their season under way against St Kilda on March 8.