Enigmatic Collingwood forward Jesse White says he is hopeful of a senior recall against his former team Sydney at the SCG on Friday night after putting together a four-quarter performance and kicking four goals in the Pies' 68-point thrashing of the Northern Blues in Saturday's curtain-raiser at the MCG.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
White, who had 18 possessions and six marks to go with his four goals, said he was eager to put his name back up in the selection mix after an ordinary performance in tough conditions at Williamstown last week.
"I felt like my scoring input was really good and getting the hands off and getting that side of it up," White, who attracted three individual opponents, said.
"A four-quarter performance was the main aim for me and I thought I did that...it was great to be back on the MCG," he told Channel Seven after the match.
The Pies have an abundance of tall forwards to choose from in the run to the finals. They opted to hand Ben Reid a long-awaited senior opportunity along with Darcy Moore against Carlton. Travis Cloke is likely to be tested this week in a bid to return from a calf injury.
White, who has kicked 23 goals in the AFL this season, has been a handy foil for Cloke but his inaccuracy in front of goal at crucial moments in games have been heavily scrutinised. He had only the one blemish in front of goal on Saturday.
Jarrod Witts (37-hitouts, 20 touches and eight marks), Patrick Karnezis (28 disposals) and Ben Kennedy (24 disposals) were the other contenders pushing for an AFL return against the Swans at the SCG.
While Witts said it was terrific to have an influence in the middle of the ground, he said the aim was to keep its VFL teams' top four hopes alive. The Pies have jumped to fourth spot, but could be overtaken by Footscray and Essendon on Sunday.
"That's what we've spoken about. We've got a pretty good opportunity to go far in the finals in the VFL side so it's just a matter of making the most of it and not letting it slip away for the rest of the season," Witts said.
Versatile defender Corey Gault was the only injury concern for the Pies late in the match.
Meanwhile, out-of-favour Carlton defender Chris Yarran had a quiet match with just the 11 touches and appeared to suffer a left knee injury at three-quarter time, before returning to the field for the final term. He had little influence on the match.
Sam Cattapan (26 touches) and Troy Menzel (20 touches and a goal) were the best for the Blues. Menzel said after the match that he thrived on a different role in the midfield.
Father-son prospect Bailey Rice, the son of former Blues premiership player Dean, had 12 disposals in his first VFL hit-out as a 23rd player. He is expected to play a further two matches for the Blues as the team focuses on development ahead of next season.