Nathan Buckley has confirmed Darcy Moore will not feature in Collingwood's blockbuster preliminary final against Richmond.
There were shouts that the Pies could rush the young key defender back for what would be just his eighth senior game this season, and his first since Collingwood's round 20 loss to Sydney.
Moore suffered a hamstring injury in the Sydney defeat.
When it comes to injuries to key defenders this year, Collingwood have been in the mire - Moore, Lynden Dunn, Matt Scharenberg, Ben Reid and Tyson Goldsack have all missed strings of games.
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Asked if he would take a punt on Moore for the monster prelim at the MCG on Friday night, Buckley was blunt in his response.
"Darcy's not fit to play. He just hasn't been able to put enough of a block of training and work together to be passed fit to go," the Collingwood coach told reporters on Wednesday.
"He's looked good in patches, he trained pretty well last week. Talking to him, he went up another notch today.
"But if we just look at the loads that he has done - or not been able to do - over the last month, it's just too much of a risk to take.
"Neither we or he are confident he could get through the whole game. We don't have the work underneath him to make that call yet, like we did with Tyson Goldsack, Adam Treloar and Jeremy Howe."
Bucks on Darcy Moore: “Darcy’s not fit to play and hasn’t been enough to put enough work together to be passed fit to go.” #FOREVER
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) September 19, 2018
Buckley said history would be "instructive to any decison they need to make" with regards to rushing Moore back.
The Pies successfully managed the returns of Goldsack, Treloar and Howe, but also didn't rush Reid, despite having a month of good health.
Buckley seemed reluctant to change the 'good mix' Collingwood has going for them, especially ahead of the side's first prelim in six years.
Regardless, Buckley conceded Moore was disappointed to miss out.
"He's had a good session today, he'll have another session on Friday, and he'll continue to prepare to roll if one becomes available for the rest of our campaign," Buckley said.
"It's a hard situation. He wants to play, clearly, he wants to play.
"We would love to have the option of playing him... it's about being sure you're taking a player in to do what's required.
"Part of the requirement is to play four quarters of footy, so that's a risk we're not prepared to take."
