Magpies' Chosen Enforcer Awaits A Comeback

The Age

Friday August 9, 2002

Jake Niall

For all the set plays, kick-out drills, pinch tests and hyperbaric chambers that have advanced the game, Brisbane and Essendon reminded us last weekend that football is still a test of strength and ferocity.

Increased surveillance means the rules of combat have changed - you can't whack people out in the open any more - but, as the Lions have shown, teams with a serious physical presence have a sizeable advantage over those that don't.

That's why Jarrod Molloy, who has played only four matches this season, is still a missing piece in the Collingwood mosaic.

Collingwood has essentially been without Molloy's grunt this season and it has hardly suffered for it. But, come the finals - the Pies' first September since John Howard's second coming - Molloy brings two critical elements to the table: experience and menace.

Collingwood has few players with meaningful finals experience. Of those probable members of its best 22, only Molloy (five finals) and Glenn Freeborn (nine) have had a serious taste of September.

Then, there's the aggression factor. Molloy, even in an interrupted season, is capable of adding a touch of nastiness to a unit that has been hard, but might still be tested by more seasoned units. Mick Malthouse, like Kevin Sheedy and Leigh Matthews, has always placed a premium on presence and those who sacrifice their games for others.

Molloy's body can be a weapon, as opponents and even teammate Tarkyn Lockyer - knocked senseless in an accidental collision last season - can attest. Unfortunately, it's a weapon that has turned on itself this year.

Molloy's body, fragile in Brisbane and sound last year, has failed him in 2002. First, it was his hamstring, then someone stood on his toe and broke it. Molloy tried pain-killing injections ``but they didn't work."

Just when he was on the verge of a return, in the final minutes of a VFL game for Williamstown against Coburg, he limped off with what looked like a nasty knee injury.

Molly, as he's known, feared the worst: a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in the same knee that had been reconstructed back in 1997. He was despondent. ``It's been very frustrating," he said.

The bad news, it transpired, was not so bad. He had strained the medial ligament and would only miss a few weeks. On Wednesday, he made it through training without soreness or setback. Assuming no further mishaps, he will resume next week, against Essendon, either at Willy or in the ones.

Molloy understands that he is running out of time in 2002. ``It is a bit of a race against time to get my body right." he said.

But he's confident he'll get there. Football manager Neil Balme said Molloy's hopes of making it back were ``still pretty good".

Collingwood has more forward options than most clubs, with Anthony Rocca, Chris Tarrant and Josh Fraser forming a formidable trio, flanked by Nick and Leon Davis and, when available, Brodie Holland.

But there is still a spot for Molloy, who, like Aaron Hamill, keeps the ball in, forces contests and opens a path for smaller and less robust players.

``He'll fit in somewhere and he'll do something for us because he's such a good competitor," said Balme. At worst, Molloy might be a storm trooper on the interchange bench, capable of igniting something.

Molloy suggested that, while he could be used off the bench, his inclusion could freshen the side. ``I could be fresher than some people who've played all year.

``It's not for me to say whether I'm going to have an impact - it's whether Mick thinks my return is going to help the team go as far as it can."

From what we've gathered over many years about Malthouse's methods and beliefs, Molloy can count himself in, so long as his body lets him.