Collingwood star Nick Daicos came mightily close to missing Sunday's stunning nine-goal comeback win over North Melbourne, with the Magpies midfielder shaking off a shin concern and illness to play an instrumental game against the Roos.
Daicos underwent fitness testing on Friday after suffering a pair of knocks to his lower leg in last week's win over Melbourne before missing the club's captain's run due to a bug.
Any issues surrounding the 21-year-old managed to keep coach Craig Mcrae up the night before the Round 14 battle, with the reigning premiers having no "like-for-like" replacement given the club's suite of injured players.
But any concerns were quickly dashed once the ball was bounced, with Diacos collecting 29 disposals, six clearances and two goals in one of the biggest come-from-behind victories of the century.
"He is a marvel, isn't he?" McRae said of Daicos after the win.
"He was sick yesterday. He was a chance not to play. When you come into training and Nick has gone home sick... You look at the magnets for a like-for-like, we didn't have one of those.
"I didn't sleep that well and then didn't really want to check the phone this morning to see if he was going to be OK. Then getting tagged well. They've been doing some good jobs on him the last couple of weeks.
"He finds a way to get into the game and it is through work rate contest to contest. I'm really proud of him.
"We had a discussion with Ed (Allan) yesterday to be ready, we weren't sure what was going to happen."
The Magpies will enjoy a Round 15 bye before returning the week after with a trip north to face the Gold Coast Suns.
McRae's side sits in the top four for the first time in 2024 and will hope to hold onto their place near the summit by the end of their mid-season break.
Their end-of-season top four prospects will be buoyed by the likely returns of several senior figures for the game against the Suns, with Brody Mihocek (hamstring), Jordan De Goey (abdominal) and Oleg Markov (back) among the Magpies in line to plat at Carrara.
There's less certainty surrounding ex-captain Scott Pendlebury and his bicep injury, while forward Joe Richards is another Magpie likely needing to prove his fitness over the next fortnight.
"There's quite a few ready to jump out of the block post-bye," McRae said.
"I don't know exactly all of them, but I think Mihocek would've played today, Jorday has really taken huge steps forward so I'd think he'd be a big chance to play.
"'Pendles' I'm not sure. Maybe, maybe not."
Collingwood's five games following the Gold Coast trip will be held at the MCG, with matches against Essendon, Geelong, Hawthorn, Richmond and Carlton scheduled.
