McLeod, 19, will miss the Hampden league’s final round on Saturday after injuring his shoulder in the Blues’ win over Terang Mortlake.

“I went and got an x-ray and nothing is broken,” he said.

“It was just a good stinger. I have to let it settle down.

“It was just a run-of-the-mill bump and I came off second-best. That’s footy.”

The former North Ballarat Rebel is hopeful of regaining his spot for the Blues’ qualifying final against reigning premier Koroit in a fortnight’s time.

McLeod, playing as a wingman-cum-defender, has proven a consistent performer, named in the Blues’ best in 10 of his 17 games.

Warrnambool will finish third on the table – it can’t move up or down regardless of results this weekend – as it strives to atone for last season’s grand final defeat.

“I haven’t played many finals but a lot of my teammates, like Travis Graham and Jason Rowan, have played in a lot of grand finals and have a lot of experience,” McLeod said.

McLeod is on gap year and will start a nursing and paramedics course in 2017.

“I am going to uni in Ballarat next year but at this stage I will come back and play, it’s just about working it out with travel,” he said.

“I have really good mates there and work at the club and get shifts there, so there’s lots of good reasons to come back and play.”