Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has said that sending star forward Jordan De Goey to Germany in an attempt to fast-track his recovery from ongoing hamstring troubles is a 'Hail Mary.'
The 23-year-old has jetted off to Germany to meet with famed Bayern Munich hamstring specialist Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt in the hopes that he can be fit to play should Collingwood make the 2019 Grand Final.
De Goey re-injured himself during Friday night's 10-point qualifying final win against Geelong, his first game since round 19.
“To be honest, it’s a Hail Mary and we’ll see how that goes,” Buckley told SEN’s Whateley.
“But we’re not prepared to give anything away.
“Jordy injured the hamstring in the first two or three minutes in a chase-down tackle on the wing.
“(He) thought it was tight and played the next 45 to 50 minutes of footy with a torn hamstring, which has caused a fair bit of bleeding.
“The challenge now is to see whether we can get rid of that bleeding and send it to a guy who is one of probably thousands of blokes that reckon they can fix it."
The soft-tissue expert Wohlfahrt has treated other players such as Collingwood teammates Darcy Moore and Jamie Elliot as was as Geelong's Max Rooke back in 2007.
Collingwood will face either GWS or Brisbane in the Preliminary Final at the MCG next week.