Collingwood star Jamie Elliot is ready to return to his exhilarating best, after recovering from a back injury, according to Pies' assistant coach Brenton Sanderson.
Collingwood's newest coaching staff member says Elliot, who missed the entire 2016 season due to the injury, in on track to return to the form that saw him become one of the most promising small forwards in the game, after a frustrating 2016.
“(He’s tracking) really good, he’s a great kid,” Sanderson said on SEN Radio on Thursday morning.
“I was just looking at some numbers yesterday, the three seasons prior to last year, he kicked 30 plus goals and he’s that energetic, really dynamic small forward, that opposition clubs find it really difficult to get a matchup on.
“If you can get some of those guys out on the field, (Alex) Fasolo missed a lot of footy last year too, so if you have Elliott and Fasolo, Darcy Moore I’ve just been so impressed with, he’s got real potential to be a superstar of the completion.”
Sanderson also believes that the Magpies' off-season recruits will have a great impact on the side's fortunes next season.
“Combine that with a young midfield…and a couple of those recruits, Daniel Wells is going to give us that outside class and ball use,” he said.
“I don’t mind Chris Mayne (either), he’s underrated and played in a system at Fremantle that probably didn’t really help forwards, as in hitting the scoreboard.
“I think he’s going to be a very important player for Collingwood next year.”
The Pies also recruited Will Hoskin-Elliott from Greater Western Sydney and Lynden Dunn from Melbourne in a busy trade period.
Collingwood finished 12th in 2016, winning just nine of 22 games.