Luckless Collingwood forward Daniel McStay is growing more confident he can return to football before the season’s end in a swift comeback from the ACL injury he sustained in November.
The Magpies’ boom recruit from the Brisbane Lions missed out on their premiership win after he strained his medial ligament in the preliminary final and was then dealt further heartbreak two months later when he suffered the ACL blow in pre-season training at Victoria Park.
It came after a serious finger injury wiped three months from his first home-and-away season at Collingwood, but McStay said he still had a positive outlook towards the game and was being spurred on by the possibility of returning before the end of the 2024 season.
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The 28-year-old said a return to running last Monday had lifted his spirits, while experimenting with a gymnastics program was beginning to show good results for his knee.
“It’s been a little bit of an up-and-down battle the last three months, but (I’m) running now, so those loads will continue to increase over the next few months,” McStay said.
“I’m slowly building (in) some change of direction – I’ve tried a few different things as well. I’ve done a fair bit of gymnastics and these sort of things to progress a little bit faster, but so far it’s just been about building strength in the leg, and it’s really exciting that I’m able to run again.
“We’re just trying to tick off each part as it comes … speaking with my staff, they seem to be really confident that I’ll play some footy this year.
“Obviously, you’ve got to have a lot of luck on your side and you can’t really have any setbacks in the timeframe that I’m working with, but the way I’ve been tracking and the work I’ve been putting in is giving me a fair bit of hope.”
Giving McStay extra hope will be the speedy recovery of Brisbane recruit Tom Doedee, who ruptured his ACL playing for Adelaide in June but is on track to make his Lions debut in the first month of the season.
McStay joined St Kilda star Jack Sinclair at the launch of the annual Spud’s Game – to be played between the Saints and Magpies at the MCG on Thursday, March 21 – to celebrate Danny Frawley’s legacy.
Sinclair, who is battling a calf injury but is building up his running loads again, said he was confident he would be fit for the blockbuster match but expressed doubt over whether he would play in the Saints’ round 1 clash against Geelong.
He said the five-day turnaround between the match at GMHBA Stadium and the Magpies clash would make playing both games difficult.
“I’m progressing really well, I think I’ll be there (round 2),” Sinclair said.
“It’s still early days … I’ve obviously missed a fair bit of training but my fitness hasn’t really been an issue. I’ll get another scan (on Wednesday) just to check up on how it’s progressing, but from my perspective I’ll be there.
“It’s hard to say (with round 1), with the five-day break that doesn’t help me. It’s a long year, round 1 is such a big build-up obviously, but there’s a bunch of other games to look to, and I’ve missed my fair share of round 1 games over my career, so I’m not too fussed to be honest.”
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