McStay set for “unbelievably quick” return from ACL injury as club confirms VFL comeback

Collingwood forward Dan McStay is set to make a miraculous comeback from his ACL injury this weekend in the VFL.

McStay suffered the injury in pre-season training in November and will now play just seven months later which is ahead of schedule compared to a typical ACL recovery.

Leading footy journalist Tom Morris described McStay’s comeback as “unbelievably quick” and he expects the 29-year-old to return to the top level in the very near future.

“We saw this coming from about a week ago,” Morris told SEN Afternoons.

“I think Jonathan Brown might have broken the story on Friday night footy on Fox. He said that his information was that Dan McStay would play a half for Collingwood's VFL team this weekend.

“It’s a great story, I mean this is seven and a half months after he ruptured his ACL.

“It's an unbelievably quick return. Probably the only return I can think of that was similar or probably quicker was Tony Liberatore in the late 90s.

“Mostly it takes 10, 11 or even 12 months to recover. But after seven and a half months he's playing.

“I'd imagine if he goes well, he wouldn't be too far away from getting back in the AFL team given how many injuries they've got.”

While Collingwood no doubt will want McStay to return as soon as possible - given injuries to fellow forwards Brody Mihocek, Jamie Elliott, Mason Cox and Beau McCreery - SEN host Dwayne Russell thinks that they won’t want to rush him back to the top level too quickly to avoid re-injury.

“They don't want to rush him back, but they do need to rush him back,” Russell added.

The forward hasn’t played a competitive game since the 2023 Preliminary Final where he suffered an MCL strain, ruling him out of the premiership victory.

Collingwood’s VFL game on Saturday afternoon comes against Geelong at Victoria Park, the same venue where he suffered the injury in November.