{"id":373363,"date":"2024-03-06T09:13:16","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T10:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=373363"},"modified":"2024-03-06T14:03:23","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T14:03:23","slug":"why-pies-are-confident-despite-target-on-their-backs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=373363","title":{"rendered":"Why Pies are 'confident' despite target on their backs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Injured Collingwood<\/a> forward Dan McStay has declared his side, who won the 2023 premiership, has a major target on their back on the eve of the AFL's inaugural Opening Round<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Pies will take on their preliminary final foes in GWS<\/a> at Giants Stadium in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Last time the two sides met, Collingwood fell in by just one point at the MCG.<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Bronco lifts lid on awkward flight with Roosters<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Bombshell claim after cricket star's sudden retirement<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Got this right': Slater sides with NRL over Walsh fine<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Heartbreakingly, it was McStay's last game for Collingwood for the season, suffering a medial collateral ligament strain in his right knee<\/a>\ufeff.<\/p>\n

The next week, his Magpies went on to win the grand final over Brisbane by four points.<\/p>\n

\"Dan<\/p>\n

McStay's devastating run worsened, going on to tear his left knee ACL two months later<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite the pain the past six months have brought the 28-year-old, he is back running, just 12 weeks after surgery on his right knee.<\/p>\n

There is hope McStay \ufeffcould even pull on the boots for the reigning premiers this season.<\/p>\n

Before that though, his Magpies will face the Giants as part of the AFL's newest Opening Round, with six sides taking part in matches a week before the official round one kicks off.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"Toby<\/p>\n

McStay declared he and teammates are aware of the pressure coming in to the 2024 season as reigning premiers.<\/p>\n

"We know teams are going to come after us this year," McStay said at the launch of Opening Round on Wednesday in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Despite the target, \ufeffMcStay says Collingwood aren't sweating the extra eyeballs on their game plan.<\/p>\n

"But we're just really confident. If we play the way we know we can, and the Magpie army get behind us (we can go all the way)," he said.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/GWSGIANTS\/status\/1765231492882628847<\/a><\/p>\n

Meantime, GWS captain Toby Greene<\/a> has \ufefflaughed off Mason Cox's comments regarding the location of their game on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

In November, chief executive Andrew Dillon claimed the radical new format resulted from a unique opportunity to feature four matches in "major venues" up north.<\/p>\n

Cox was unimpressed to see the Pies scheduled at "a showground for livestock"<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ufeffReacting to the announcement on X, Cox was critical of the decision to play the Pies' first match of the season at the purpose-built venue for the Sydney Royal Easter Show.<\/p>\n

\"Pendlebury<\/p>\n

"Round one NRL goes to Las Vegas. AFL premiers go to \u2026 A showground for livestock \u2026," Cox tweeted last year.<\/p>\n

Greene believes it was a strong publicity stunt, which the 2023 All-Australian captain was behind to help sell tickets.<\/p>\n

"I think he was just trying to sell a few tickets, which I think he's done well," Greene said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\ufeffCollingwood will take on GWS as part of the AFL's inaugural Opening Round<\/a>\ufeff on Saturday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Injured Collingwood forward Dan McStay has declared his side, who won the 2023 premiership, has a major target on their back on the eve of […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":334431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=373363"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":373372,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373363\/revisions\/373372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/334431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=373363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=373363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=373363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}