COLLEGIANS big man Scott Day – freshly recovered from emergency surgery to remove his appendix – is determined to help his side correct last season’s heartbreaking grand final defeat.
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The 29-year-old is preparing to lead the Warriors’ attacking line in his first senior fixture in more than 10 months against Warrnambool and District league reigning premier Nirranda.
Day missed the first half of the season due to the birth of his second child, returning to reserves football six weeks ago.
He suffered a month-long setback when his appendix ruptured a month ago, but is now champing at the bit to fill a void left by absent forward Jimmy Crawford.
“We had our baby in March, and I wanted to stay and help my partner at home for the first little bit. Sport tends to take up most of your weekend,” Day said.
“I’m very happy to be back. I don’t want to finish how we did last year.
“It was always my aim to come back for the second half of the year, I just needed a bit of time to get the body right.”
Day said his club were hitting their straps at the right time of the season.
“I think we peaked a little bit early last season,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of depth this season. Even in our reserves, I think there are probably about eight or nine players capable of playing senior football at our club.”
The tall forward anticipated a contested ball battle against Dennington, who is vying to steady its ship after a run of inconsistent results.
“You always know you’re going to be in for a contested battle against someone like Dennington,” he said.
“You can definitely feel (soreness) in the body after you’ve had a game against them. They’re a very hard side.”
Warriors coach Josh Reichman was thrilled to have Day back in the selection mix.
“Being his first game of the season, he’s a big in for us,” Reichman told The Standard.
“With Jimmy (Crawford) out at the moment, he’s a good target for us in our forward line. We’ll have Josh (Dwyer) and Nathan Forth back in as well.
“We know what we’re going to get from all three of those guys and it does add a bit of experience into our side.”
Reichman said the Warriors had pounced at the chance to include Day in the senior side after an “unlucky” start to the season.
“He’s been unlucky with his appendix and he also hurt his finger. He hasn’t played as many games as he’d like but in his reserves games, he’s been among the bests every time,” the second-year coach said.
“It’s taken some time but we’re rapt to have him back.”
