Magpie Darcy Moore. Credit:Justin McManus "So it can be a bit of a frustrating burden to bear that you're constantly at risk. "But I feel like I've gotten so good at managing it now that it's pretty - I know you're going to have setbacks along the way, the game is getting faster, longer, it's getting harder, it's getting more demanding, so those setbacks are going to keep occurring but my philosophy is to manage myself as best I can and ... for the most part this year, I feel like I've done that.'' When Moore ran off the field against Essendon in round 23, a shiver sprinted down tens of thousands of Collingwood spines, fans fearing that the talented Mr Darcy had pinged his hamstring again, an outcome that likely would have seen him missing the finals, as he did when the Moore-less Magpies fell a Dom Sheed drop punt short of a flag. The truth was a welcome one. Moore was merely taking a precautionary measure. "It was a little precaution and the medical team made the decision and I was happy with it and the message was to take the win and prepare for the finals.''

If he felt the same sensation again in finals, would Moore stay on the ground? "I would, yeah. I haven't really thought about. But yeah, but hopefully I won't [have to].'' So, Moore played his first final against the Cats. For a player who'd played only three-and-a-half quarters over seven weeks, he showed no rustiness whatsoever, grabbing nine marks, six of them in the final term, while subduing his opponent Esava Ratugolea. Moore's father Peter, the dual Brownlow medallist who captained the Magpies and played in umpteen finals (four losing and one drawn grand final among them), was in a New York bar at 5am watching his son's successful first foray into September footy. This Saturday, Moore snr will be at the ground, witnessing Darcy take on the Giants tall forwards. "It takes me back a little bit,'' said the father, reflecting on both his own career and his son's journey. "It's just great to watch him get that chance.''

The thoroughbred's twitchy hammies denied Darcy that opportunity last year, when the Magpies opted not to risk him in their finals campaign. "The problem there was he could never get it right,'' said the father. "And you just can't take those risks in finals.'' Moore snr famously entered the 1981 grand final against Carlton with a torn hamstring that hadn't healed, a game he admits he shouldn't have played. Darcy, Peter added, "had a much better preparation [this year].'' Part of that year-long preparation involved a pre-season trip to Germany, with fellow hamstring sufferer Jamie Elliott, to undergo the same treatment that teammate Jordan De Goey just received in Germany from hammy whisperer Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt, the club doctor at Bayern Munich. Darcy said his father's advice had been to enjoy finals. "He sort of was reminiscing a little bit about his own career and he just remembers finals as being the absolute highlight. He was just stoked that I got the opportunity to experience it, yeah. He's hoping that the boys get over the line and loving being part of the journey this time as a parent. "Hopefully I can get that medal that eluded him for so long in his career.''

Yet, as Collingwood insiders have been saying for a while, Darcy is his own man. True to this independent label, his premiership ambitions are very much his own. Dad's near misses aren't something to contemplate or compensate. "No I don't really think about it. I want to win it because, you know, [I] love this team and we've worked so hard and we deserve it. I'm not really thinking about my old man.'' While injuries have frustrated, Moore says he doesn't carry mental baggage from the physical setbacks of 2018. He acknowledges, though, there are times - and methods - for escaping from the stresses of playing for Collingwood, pressures that must be magnified for the son of a distinguished ex-player. "I managed to really let go of last year and just move on. And this season's a new season and I'm well and truly over it," he said. "It's a huge part now. I mean, every player will tell you that the sort of scrutiny and the stress of the AFL industry, like switching off is really important during the week and that's really true for me. So you know, my university studies and making time for the stuff that I'm passionate about, away from the game, is equally as important for me, just to make sure I come to training with a fresh approach.

"It's super important and I think it all comes in with this sort of mental health hygiene. I think it's really important for guys to get that break, 'cause at times - especially at this club - you can really feel like the walls are closing in.'' Thus, as teammates discussed match-ups, Toby Greene and the Giants on Monday, Moore (whose father said could speak "fluent Indonesian'') shared his passion for the political situation in Hong Kong. At times - especially at this club - you can really feel like the walls are closing in. Darcy Moore "Even that bloody Saudi Arabian drone strike the other day was, was just fascinating, and then obviously [there's] the guy, the president, the red-headed president [Donald Trump]. It's pretty interesting times," he said. This weekend, though, Moore's world will narrow to the more parochial confines of the MCG, where he anticipates a "fiery'' GWS, even without Greene. If he shapes as the logical match-up for Jeremy Cameron, Moore was unsure. He has not played on any of the Giants' tall forwards, Cameron, Harry Himmelberg or Jeremy Finlayson.

"I think it all comes down to our pressure at some point,'' Moore said of the preliminary final. "I think, when we can put the kind of heat on in the midfield that we did two weeks ago, we really make it hard for teams to score against us. "GWS will really challenge that with their quality midfield and I think, you know, that's always for us a bit of the barometer, how much we can harass them when they've got the ball. '' Collingwood and pressure. Darcy Moore could write a book on that.