Gold Coast is bracing for its toughest pre-season match of the year, as Collingwood prepare to atone for their winless NAB Challenge campaign.
It has been a frustrating start for Guy McKenna’s coaching counterpart Nathan Buckley, with his Magpies having come agonisingly close to defeating Geelong at Simonds Stadium, before going down to Richmond by 48-points in Wangaratta.
Given the side’s travel commitments to North Queensland last week, McKenna told reporters on Wednesday the playing group had been put through a relatively light week of training.
But the coach assured fans his charges would be ready to match the Pie’s expected high intensity and pressure on Sunday.
“We know they’re going to be hard and fast and their fine-tuning themselves because their season starts a day before ours, so we know it’s going to be on,” McKenna said.
In the midst of a weeklong training camp on the Gold Coast, Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury said the extended stay on the tourist strip had provided his team a great opportunity to refresh and rejuvenate for the coming season.
He said the Pies would be using this weekend’s exhibition match as a full dress rehearsal for its Round 1 match against Fremantle.
"It's only early in the year and we've shown little patches of that (good football) and we've also shown what happens when we're not fully switched on.
"We're just looking to get a four-quarter performance together."
Pleasingly, the Gold Coast coach will welcome back a number of high-profile players into his starting line-up.
Brownlow Medallist Gary Ablett and NAB AFL Rising Star Jaeger O’Meara will return, while their fellow midfield accomplices Michael Rischitelli and David Swallow are expected to take their place in the centre square.
Despite the added inclusions, McKenna said his team would not be letting their guard down against the top eight contenders.
“We can’t turn up like we did on the weekend and expect it to just happen,” he said.
“But I think the boys clearly understand that from the review of the game and look forward to the opportunity of taking on Collingwood.”
