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Collingwood coach Craig McRae only recently returned to the club in the middle of last week following an extended leave period in preparation for his fifth season as Magpies coach. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s according to SEN\u2019s Sam Edmund, and it comes after it was revealed Geelong\u2019s Chris Scott was also afforded extra time to gather himself ahead of another gruelling campaign. <\/p>\n
Instead, the respective clubs\u2019 assistant coaches had been handed the reins to guide their pre-season programs. <\/p>\n
Edmund wrote on X: \u201cThere\u2019s a move among some clubs to better protect the longevity of their leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott, who\u2019s been in charge at Kardinia Park since 2011, signed a new Cats deal through 2029 as last year\u2019s grand finalists ready another tilt at silverware. <\/p>\n
Last December, McRae signed a new Collingwood contract ensuring his future at Olympic Park until at least the end of 2028. <\/p>\n
SUNS TRIAL NEW ROLES<\/p>\n
Gold Coast is spinning the magnets ahead of its highly-anticipated 2026 campaign, with several players gaining exposure in new positions.<\/p>\n
The most significant move has seen the Suns throw defender Wil Powell into an on-ball role ahead of his eighth AFL season.<\/p>\n
Suns assistant coach Josh Drummond said the coaching staff \u201cdefinitely feel he (Powell) can add to our midfield mix\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see a little tear form in the eye here,\u201d Drummond joked, referencing how he\u2019s moved from the backline Drummond oversees as a line coach. \u201cHe\u2019s someone I\u2019ve enjoyed coaching.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s someone we feel plays the game in such a physical way, and plays the right way offensively and defensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a midfielder, he\u2019s going to be in and around more contests, generally speaking. He just throws himself into everything he does. He\u2019s got an ability to compete and to pressure, but he\u2019s also an elite ball user.\u201d<\/p>\n
Powell was joined in the midfield on Wednesday by Lachie Weller, who said he wasn\u2019t sure yet whether on-ball minutes would come to fruition during the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of depth through every area, but we\u2019re just trying to get a little bit of exposure in different areas,\u201d Powell told reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went through the midfield today, \u2018Powelly\u2019 went through \u2014 we\u2019re just trying to change it up a little bit and share the load throughout the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ethan Read during a Gold Coast Suns AFL training session. Picture: Chris Hyde\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, 202cm forward\/ruck Ethan Read has been seen on a wing at Suns training.<\/p>\n
Despite his frame, Read has excellent aerobic capacity \u2014 he ran a ridiculous 5:56 2km time trial at the 2023 national draft combine \u2014 as well as pinpoint skills and reflexes of a classy midfielder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is he, 200cm or so? And he runs like the wind,\u201d Weller said with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe adds another element to our midfield group. He\u2019s been fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dual All-Australian Touk Miller has also been moved to half-forward.<\/p>\n
Top-10 draftees Zeke Uwland and Dylan Patterson have both been training with the backline, while Uwland has also spent time on the wing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sydney has been hit with an ill-timed injury blow to one of its young draftees. Plus, Collingwood\u2019s coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[12023,64,63,689,3423,9124,19061,3451,131837,235615,2105,2485,9130,176797,235628,3487,235627,235616,80128,64093,218846,3502,19105,36657,673,677,235622,222600,29987,235617,235626,701,117647,85,19088,235624,235625,33317,235621,235623,670,7200,235619,235618,121942,121948,12416,235620],"class_list":["post-457517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-academy-product","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-chris-hyde","tag-coaching-staff","tag-dylan-patterson","tag-elite-ball-user","tag-exciting-three-goal-performance","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-gun-academy","tag-ill-time-injury","tag-isaac-heeney","tag-josh-drummond","tag-lachie-weller","tag-leon-cameron","tag-line-coach","tag-match-simulation","tag-max-king","tag-midfield-group","tag-midfield-mix","tag-new-south-wales","tag-oceania","tag-oliver-dempsey","tag-origin-match","tag-phil-hillyard","tag-positional-swaps","tag-pre-season-injury-blow","tag-queensland","tag-role-change","tag-sports","tag-stress-fracture","tag-stress-injury","tag-suns-assistant-coach","tag-swans-academy","tag-swans-recruit","tag-swans-training","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-swans","tag-tear-form","tag-throw-defender","tag-vertical-jump","tag-vertical-jump-result","tag-wil-powell","tag-young-draftees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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