The OFFICIAL 2009 AFL Finals Thread!

COLLINGWOOD midfielder Scott Pendlebury could still play in the finals despite confirmation that he broke his leg in Sunday’s loss to St Kilda.

Pendlebury underwent surgery on Monday morning where he had a plate inserted to repair a cracked fibula but Collingwood chief of football operations Geoff Walsh said he could be in line for a recall if Collingwood’s season extended beyond this week.

“The reason we’ve done that is while there’s life there’s hope and there is some chance we can get him back playing in a timeframe a bit less than normal. Maybe two weeks or a bit beyond he will be available to play hopefully,” Walsh said.

“Our medical advice and surgeon’s advice is that we won’t affect him long-term by doing that which was obviously a major consideration. He’s had that repaired and plated. Fingers crossed he recovers quickly.”

Another Magpie who could be back quicker than originally expected is forward Anthony Rocca. The veteran injured his ankle late in the game but Walsh said he was still a chance to play against Adelaide.

“Anthony gave his ankle a decent tweak yesterday but he has improved a fair bit today. The swelling was up a bit straight after the game. It came down considerably today,” Walsh said

“It will be a day by day situation but it looks a bit better than last night.”

Walsh said Ryan Cook and Cameron Wood were in the mix for selection after impressive performance for Collingwood’s VFL side which defeated the Casey Scorpions by 115 points on Saturday.

“Ryan’s been very good for a number of weeks in the VFL. He is a midfielder with a good defensive slant. He played very well against Casey on the weekend. Ryan will be in contention as he was last week and as he’s been for the past couple of weeks,” he said.

“Cameron’s always a chance to play given his form and given the situation that he has faced most of the year where he has been just in or just out. If Josh has been unavailable he has been the no. 1 ruckman and performed that role pretty well. He dominated the rucks on Saturday in the VFL so he again didn’t do his chances any harm. He is certainly in the mix with or without Josh’s knee problem.”

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