COACH Josh Reichman is facing selection headaches as Old Collegians readies itself for a third-consecutive finals campaign.
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Last season’s beaten grand finalist tuned up for finals in emphatic fashion, grinding out a 14.18 (102) to 7.7 (49) over South Rovers on Saturday.
It assured Collegians’ stranglehold on the minor premiership carried on for a second consecutive season.
Reichman expected tall forward Jimmy Crawford to overcome an ankle complaint on the back of the two-week break afforded by finishing first.
Warriors assistant coach Andrew McCartney could also return from a shoulder injury if he can pass a fitness test.
Reichman said the Warriors would train throughout the week, but would resist the temptation for a big session in place of a match on Saturday.
“I probably wrecked a few boys this time last year. We went really hard on the Saturday and we probably had a few injuries from it,” he said.
“I reckon we’ll train as normal (through the week) but we’ll have a little hit out on the Saturday, but it won’t be anything too full on.
“We’ll use the week off to sharpen up in a few areas we need to sharpen up in.”
In restricting South Rovers to just seven majors for the match, Reichman hailed his side’s defensive effort as the reason for the triumph.
It came after Collegians worked to restrict South Rovers’ movement through pinpoint short-range passing.
“(South Rovers) just make you defend. They’re so good at kicking out, too, they chip it around and really force you to defend,” Reichman said.
“We really concentrated on making them kick down the line where we could.
“We got better at it in the second half and we kind of stopped that end-to-end stuff.
“They got plenty of kicks in our forward half but they weren’t able to be too dangerous with it.
“That was a really key factor us in the win.”
South Rovers coach Adam Matheson, who on Saturday re-signed to coach alongside assistant Peter Timms for next season, said his side was “outclassed”.
“I never doubt our effort, we were just outworked and outclassed. They’re a classy outfit, especially in the wet,” he said.
“I thought their skills were exceptional in the wet. Our effort hasn’t been questioned all season, we probably just where we sit against a really quality opposition.”