'Unpredictability' a plus for Magpies

COLLINGWOOD assistant coach Guy McKenna has said the team’s injury predicament going into this week’s game against the Bulldogs makes them “unpredictable”.

The Pies will be without ruckman Josh Fraser due to a knee injury as well as forward Leon Davis who is out with an ankle complaint.

The team may also be missing club stalwart Anthony Rocca who is struggling to recover from an ankle injury and hasn’t played since round nine.

“[We're] going to go in with a few changes due to injuries so we become a little bit unpredictable. I don’t think the way we play will [change] but the personnel changes things. We’d see that as an advantage,” he said.

“You don’t go in with a stock standard side and the Doggies have been pretty solid. I think they had 16 blokes that have played every game so far this season. At this stage of the year it’s almost unheard of, so they’re settled, you get a good read of them.”

McKenna admitted that last week’s loss to the Blues was a form of wake-up call for the club.

“It’s not that you get comfortable, it’s that maybe you weren’t crossing your t's and dotting your i's. You were just performing to maybe 80 or 85 per cent and in this competition you get found out no matter who you play.

"Carlton certainly found us out and I think there was just a realignment with the players to get their heads back on their shoulders and say; ‘yes we were a little bit soft in some areas. We need to make sure that we follow through with what the coaches are expecting’.”

Former Magpie great and media commentator Tony Shaw was scathing this week for how Collingwood head coach Mick Malthouse used his nephew Heath Shaw in the loss to Carlton.

But McKenna denied that playmaker Shaw, who has had an outstanding season, would be approaching this weekend’s game any differently.

“Heath will just get involved in the way we expect him to get involved and if he’s up, he’s up, and if he’s down, he’s down," he said.

"He’s like any other player that plays through the midfield. They get tagged and sat on their backside and go through a flat spot and come out the other end a better player.

"I’m sure Heath’s not far away from that and I’m sure he’s been in some good form and bad form, which is no different to anyone that gets tagged.”

However, McKenna did admit that this weekend’s tussle with the top-three side is “crucial”.

“Every game’s a special game because love them or like them everyone comes out to beat Collingwood," he said.

"It’s great for us because we get that type of pressure, intensity, big crowds, all that sort of stuff, so behind all that it actually helps us. But to maintain that for a whole season, that’s tough… we have to manage that… so this game becomes pretty crucial.”