With great pleasure, Collingwood announces that Reef McInnes, Lachie Sullivan, Charlie Dean, and Ned Long have all agreed to new contracts with the Club. Each player will remain in the black and white stripes until the end of 2025 after agreeing to a one-year contract.
After a prior foot injury that put him on the AFL‘s Inactive List, Dean, who was selected at pick two in the 2021 AFL Rookie Draft, has participated in eight AFL games since making his debut in the first round of this season. After playing well in six games with Collingwood’s VFL program, Long was added to the senior list. He made his AFL debut against Essendon in Round 17 and has since played in all but one AFL match.
McInnes, picked at number 23 in the 2020 AFL National Draft, has played 20 AFL matches and scored 19 goals. Sullivan, who was added during the Supplementary Selection Period after training with the AFL team over the summer, made an impressive debut in Round Eight against Carlton, scoring with his first kick and subsequently appearing in ten games.
In other news, the club intends to try to re-select Ash Johnson and Oleg Markov in the upcoming AFL Rookie Draft in November after they were delisted. During Round 18 of 2022, Johnson, a proud Gija/JJaru/BBunuba man, made his debut as Collingwood’s 18th First Nations player. Markov became a Premiership player in seven months after joining as a rookie in February 2023.
While acknowledging the tough choices made with regard to Johnson and Markov, Justin Leppitsch, Head of Football Strategy at Collingwood, expressed satisfaction in keeping the four players, praising their contributions and tenacity.