Collingwood star Jordan De Goey says he wants to "pay the team back" after spending large chunks of the 2025 season on the sidelines.
De Goey was back to his brilliant best in week one of the finals against Adelaide, and proved that he is still the matchwinner the Pies need in September.
Through groin, adductor and concussion issues, the 29-year-old has played 10 games thus far, including the last five weeks.
And now he's shaping as the difference maker in Saturday's mouthwatering preliminary final match against Brisbane at the MCG.
"For sure, I'm the freshest of the list, all the boys have made that pretty clear," De Goey said.
"The body feels really good, and in a way, I do feel like I do need to pay the rest of the team back.
"It's such a long year and all the boys did such a fantastic job to be in the position they were in, and if they weren't winning, I wouldn't have been able to do what I did."
De Goey admitted that he and the club came to the mutual decision to rest him after Round 8 against Geelong to get him, as Pies coach Craig McRae says, "fit to perform, not fit to play".
He thanked injured midfielder Lachie Sullivan for picking up the slack in his absence.
"I put my hand up and said, 'I wasn't right and I didn't want to keep putting myself out there when I am nowhere near my best, someone else is going to be able to fill that role'," De Goey said.
"For us, it was Lachie Sullivan, he came in and did an enormous job throughout the year.
"At the end of the day, it is a team sport, and I wasn't ready to put myself in a position where I didn't think I could do my best.
"Yeah, (the concussion was) not ideal, unfortunately, that's Brayden (Maynard) for you.
"That was my first drill back, and he knocked me out straight away. I started wearing a helmet at training after that and avoided Brayden."
