Collingwood father-son gun Josh Daicos said he'd prefer to keep playing amid game management talks as the club prepares for a Wildcard clash in two weeks.
The Pies have one last home-and-away clash against Brisbane on Friday at the MCG, but the result won't have a meaningful impact on the ladder, playing into discussions about whether star players can be rested.
Earlier this month, the AFL sent a memo to all 18 clubs, saying:
“Please be reminded of the obligation in the AFL rules to ‘perform to one's merits', meaning that clubs must perform honestly and to the best of their ability,” the memo says.
“While legitimate player management of player fatigue or injuries is permitted, the AFL will scrutinise team selection decisions in the lead-up to AFL finals in the context of this rule.”
Daicos, as will his teammates, will abide by the high-performance team's decision, led by Jarrod Wade in unison with senior coach Craig McRae.
"Usually, Jarrod Wade (high-performance coach), he's got a specific plan he sticks to," Daicos said on SEN.
"Obviously, now with this week's result not having any effect on finals for us, I'm not too sure whether we rest a couple, manage a couple, or if we continue to build good habits in our game and really expand upon that belief we've been building this back half of the year.
"What I will say is you kind of end up getting managed; you do a training session and do just as many kilometres as if you were to play. As a player, you never want to miss. It's a privilege to be on the MCG and play in these big games.
"I feel like as long as my body is good, I like to keep in a rhythm. Keep the momentum going. I definitely see both sides to it.
"We've got a great team who has a great plan for us."
Daicos said his younger brother and AFL star, Nick, would want to don the black and white each week, but alluded to the fact that if Wade or McRae makes the tough selection call, they'll back the decision.
The Pies are set to welcome back a litany of experienced players for the Lions clash.
Defensive pair Jeremy Howe (arm) and Brayden Maynard (knee/hamstring) are pushing for selection, while Patrick Lipinski (calf) is another in the mix. Harry Perryman is expected to return in the Wildcard Round from a hamstring injury.
After the gusty draw against Hawthorn, McRae alluded to doing the best thing for the team.
“Potentially, we have got a lot of players coming back. I say that, but they have still got to get through the week. We have another six-day break, so that might suggest some need to be managed. I was pretty deliberate with (high performance manager) Jarrod Wade that we will manage them if they need to be managed.
“Lipinski made some good progress this week; he's more likely than not. Howey is a good healer, and he will be close and ‘Bruzzy' (Maynard) will be close. Harry Perryman might be close. We will have to wait and see, but we have a few experienced guys back. We will have to find the right balance of that.
“Not just for the sake of it, and if they are really sore and can't perform, they won't play next week, but right now there is an energy, and they want to play. Every GPS tells a different story. Cumulative load. We take all that into consideration, and we will weigh it up at the match committee to make those decisions.”
