"The best ability is availability." "Health is wealth." These are examples of adages footy fans will be force-fed as the 2025 AFL season rapidly approaches its climax.
As cliche as these phrases are, teams boasting the shortest injury lists come September best position themselves to claim the flag.
Who are the needle movers that this year's finals contenders are looking to welcome back? We take a look with just five home and away matches remaining.
1Collingwood
The ladder-leaders have been dealt a reality check in the last fortnight, having lost back-to-back games for the first time since the corresponding rounds last season. Close losses to fellow finals fancies in the Gold Coast Suns and Fremantle Dockers has seen the buffer Craig McRae's men boast atop the table reduced to just two points, merely two weeks after it hit double digits.
Key defender Billy Frampton's calf is a test this week, as the Pies look to shore up their stocks behind the ball, after skipper Darcy Moore's horror show against the Dockers. Dynamic distributor Dan Houston is also eyeing a return against the Tigers, while fellow backman Jeremy Howe is still at least a week away, as he deals with a groin complaint.
Norm Smith medallist and electric small forward Bobby Hill may return through the VFL this week, after navigating personal issues away from football, but it is the availability of match-winner Jordan De Goey that poses the greatest lever for improvement for the Magpies.
The standout finals performer has not been sighted since Round 8, with the club taking a cautious approach to fine-tuning the body of the 2023 flag hero. His imminent return was pushed back by a recent concussion at training, but the versatility of the hybrid midfield-forward promises to pose headaches to opposition coaches, should he feature, as expected, in September.
His career is littered with big moments in big games, and should he pass fit this week, expect more of the same from the maligned matchwinner, when cutthroat finals action commences.
