SEVERAL changes are likely for both teams ahead of tomorrow’s 2014 qualifying final.
As many as five changes are likely for Tooleybuc Manangatang, while Swan Hill welcomes back two with another two to undergo tests prior to the game.
The Saints and the Swans meet at Kerang on Saturday. It will be the first time the sides have met in a final since the 2011 preliminary final, which was also held at Kerang.
While Brad Morris and Jake Budde won’t play again this season, Saints coach Daryl Powell said a number will return pending fitness tests.
“We’ve got a couple to look at [before the game] and if all come up we will have five changes,” he said.
“A couple of those probably could have played last week.”
Josh Stone, Ben Jones, Jack O’Rourke, Rhys Budde, Mitch Hough and Tom Pridgeon are all expected to return tomorrow.
Bendigo Gold VFL players Hough and Pridgeon were due to play last week but missed at the last minute.
Powell said that three players who had missed the Saints’ game against Tyntynder last week caught the Swans in action against Woorinen.
“The strength of their game is they’ve got a lot of young blokes who are willing to run, and that was what caught us out the first time we played them. The second time around we were more aware of it,” he said.
Swans coach Xavier Moloney said his side took confidence out of its performance against Woorinen.
“Obviously take a lot of confidence from the four quarter effort and getting two wins in a row builds a lot of momentum,” he said.
For more on this and other footy finals previews, see Friday’s edition of The Guardian (August 29, 2014).
