COLLINGWOOD backman Ben Reid says there is room for three tall defenders in the Pies’ backline this Saturday, with Nathan Brown in form and Simon Prestigiacomo in line to return for the grand final replay.
Prestigiacomo was forced to pull out of Collingwood’s selected 22 last Friday with a niggling groin injury, but Reid said the veteran had trained strongly this week and was definitely in the mix.
Brown, who officially replaced Prestigiacomo 90 minutes before the bounce last Saturday, was among the Magpies’ best players in the grand final, keeping St Kilda star Nick Riewoldt to two goals.
Reid, who had 15 disposals and four marks in a very strong grand final performance, said the tall trio would find out who had made the cut at Thursday’s training session, but he could see no reason why they can’t all fit.
“If they (the coaches) go for that then I’m sure we can all work together somehow,” Reid said from the Westpac Centre on Wednesday.
“Obviously Presti’s been a champion of the club for a number of years [and] to come out and say he wasn’t right for a grand final is unbelievable.
“All the boys really got behind him. He’s trained well this week and he’s definitely in the mix again.”
As well as Prestigiacomo, Tarkyn Lockyer and Tyson Goldsack are pushing for a recall in Saturday’s replay, while selection doubt hangs over small forward Leon Davis, who played his third disappointing grand final.
Collingwood’s backline faced just 35 St Kilda forward entries (compared to the Pies’ 62), but Reid said the defenders’ review had been a positive one despite drawing the game.
“I think as a group we hit a fair few targets we wanted to get to, so it wasn’t too bad,” he said.
“Every game you’ve got something to work on and we sat down and had a look at a fair few of those things.
“We’ve worked on them at training and we’re just ready to rectify them this weekend.”
Riewoldt will again be the focus of the backline’s preparation and Reid said the Pies would settle for a similar output from the Saints skipper.
“I think we handled him pretty well … Browny did a fantastic job on him,” he said.
“He only got the two goals, which was great, and hopefully we can shut him down again this week.”