Jordan De Goey (left) celebrates a goal with Lachie Schultz during the Qualifying Final between Collingwood and Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on September 4, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

THIS was the plan when Jordan De Goey drove down to Frankston to play in the VFL on the final Saturday night of July. 

But the best-laid plans often go awry. De Goey had barely played in the twos in a decade, but Collingwood was committed to this blueprint.

After being limited to 13 games in 2024 due to lingering soft-tissue issues that resulted in him starting the pre-season in Qatar, De Goey still hadn’t been able to regain his explosiveness across the first two months of 2025.

Craig McRae and high-performance boss Jarrod Wade made a decision at the start of May: De Goey needed a reset. 

It wasn’t about having him right for winter; it was all about having him firing on all cylinders for the finals. 

The plan has worked. 

The 29-year-old backed up his return to form in round 24 with an even more explosive, even more devastating performance to lead Collingwood to victory over Adelaide in Thursday night’s qualifying final at the Adelaide Oval. 

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“I did lose a little bit of confidence midway through there. You just have to focus on your body, on your craft and keep pushing,” De Goey told AFL.com.au after the 24-point win over the Crows.

“We put the season away and just focused on finals. I was lucky enough to do that with the way team was going, banking a lot of wins. 

“For me, it was focus further ahead, get right, come back for finals and we put a lot of rehab into my body, got my ankles, feet, Achilles right and hit the ground running later in the season. Got the job done tonight and starting to play some decent footy.”

Adelaide had won nine straight games ahead of September – and 12 of 13 since Collingwood last beat them in round 10 – but De Goey is a difference maker when the games matter more.

The 2023 premiership hero finished with an equal game-high 26 disposals, seven tackles, six clearances, a goal and a goal assist in a vintage performance. The numbers only tell part of the story.

De Goey is a different proposition in September. His finals record stacks up with some of the modern-day greats. Since 2021, only Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver has averaged more AFL Player Ratings points than De Goey.

That doesn’t factor in De Goey’s arrival as a box office star in September of 2018 when the Oakleigh Chargers product kicked 12 goals across four finals, including four in the preliminary final, before three in the Grand Final loss to West Coast. 

“You have to turn up, you don’t have a choice,” De Goey said. “It’s finals footy, it’s hot and you need to stand up when the pressure is out; I like to do that. It goes without saying, what you put in you get out. I feel like I’ve done that pretty well.”

Darcy Moore was selected four picks after De Goey in the 2014 AFL Draft and has played in bigger games, but seldom played a better game. 

Undermanned down back, deep in enemy territory, the Collingwood skipper showed why he is not just a two-time All-Australian, but a premiership captain. 

Moore hauled in nine intercept marks for a total of 13 intercept possessions to be one of the most influential players on the ground. 

Darcy Moore after the qualifying final between Collingwood and Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on September 4, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

Collingwood’s next pick in 2014 was Brayden Maynard at No.30. The heart and soul defender was just as crucial as De Goey and Moore on Thursday night, producing a performance that only enhances his status as the modern-day Darren Millane.

“Looking back on it we’ve been through so much together. We’ve achieved the greatest success and we’ve also done poorly together, too, as a team,” De Goey said.

“To come out tonight and do what they did, the backline was unbelievable, they stood up tonight and they’ve been No.1 all year. We weren’t surprised with what they did. They were unreal.”

Now he has guided Collingwood back to the penultimate weekend of the season, although he will be looked at for a bump in the third quarter on Crows defender Josh Worrell.

“That’s just a smother,” he told Channel Seven after the game. “I actually blocked the ball with my leg. The ball comes off my leg. I think I got to the ball, so it wasn’t like I came past and clipped him at all. Obviously hit the ball first and we both braced for contact.”

Renowned Irish rehab expert, Dr Enda King, helped recalibrate De Goey’s body in Doha last November, teaching him tools that helped him regain his burst, agility and repeat efforts. 

But that Saturday night against the Dolphins in Frankston was the turning point. He embraced the occasion in front of 5,500 fans under lights, loved having his old man and mates at the huddle during the breaks. Now De Goey has propelled Collingwood into another preliminary final. A third under McRae and a 12th this century.