Moore to miss Collingwood’s ANZAC Day clash with Essendon

Collingwood captain Darcy Moore has been ruled out of the club’s annual ANZAC Day clash with Essendon due to an inner-ear problem.

Moore has been dealing with vertigo symptoms following a collision with teammate Jeremy Howe in last week’s win over Brisbane.

The defender has missed multiple training sessions this week as a result, and the Magpies have confirmed he will not be available to face the Bombers at the MCG this Friday.

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“Darcy won’t play,” Collingwood coach Craig McRae told reporters on Wednesday.

“Darcy’s got a bit of an inner-ear issue. We’re not sure exactly what it is. He’s got a bit of vertigo symptoms at the moment.

“We’ve had scans, he’s probably off to see a specialist now to see what’s going on there but he won’t play.”

McRae was quick to dismiss the notion that Moore might be dealing with a previously undiagnosed concussion.

“No, we’ve done the protocol a couple of times, or the assessment a couple of times — there’s no issue there,” he said.

“It’s just something that’s sort of lingered early in the week and it’s not going away, so he hasn’t had the ability to train and we’re getting to the bottom of it and hopefully we’ll find out today what we’re dealing with.”

Moore’s absence leaves Collingwood with a potential matchup issue against Essendon’s Peter Wright, who made an impressive return to AFL footy with six goals last week.

Nevertheless, with the Magpies sitting top of the ladder after five consecutive wins, top online bookmakers have them as $1.24 favourites to beat the Bombers.

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