> Watch Heath Shaw, Scott Pendlebury, Harry O'Brien and Darren Jolly address the media on MondayCOLLINGWOOD’S Heath Shaw says disappointment awaits at least one of his teammates with veteran defender Simon Prestigiacomo attempting to win his way back into the Pies line-up for Saturday’s AFL grand final.
Prestigiacomo hasn’t played since suffering a badly corked thigh in round 20 but, if passed fit this week, will be a candidate to mind St Kilda superstar Nick Riewoldt.
The 32-year-old, who was a member of Collingwood’s losing 2002 and 2003 grand final sides, trained on Monday morning and will push his case for a recall later this week.
If recalled, he would likely oust youngster Nathan Brown who has impressed during the Pies’ two finals wins.
“He’s [Prestigiacomo] definitely in the mix,” Shaw said from the Westpac Centre on Monday.
“He’s progressed over the last few weeks as the fitness staff have wanted him to.
“I think Mick [Malthouse] said he was pretty close on the weekend to even coming in. I think it might be a tough decision come this week, whether to play Presti or whoever else might drop out of the side - it’s going to be a tough one.”
Prestigiacomo has been nursed through the season, with the defender suffering groin soreness before his thigh injury required blood to be drained from a clot that developed.
However his reliability over the years, especially in big games, will force some serious thinking for Malthouse and co this week.
“I know that the 22 the coaching staff send out there are all going to play their role and do their job but there’s obviously going to be some disappointed players as well,” Shaw said.
“That’s footy - you can only play 22 each week. But everyone who goes out there is going to represent Collingwood pretty well.”
Riewoldt has returned to his destructive best since recovering from the hamstring injury that threatened to end his season.
His third term against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night inspired St Kilda’s win, but Shaw said a team effort would be required to counter the Saint’s brilliance.
“We just hope that, as a team, our structure’s going to hold up and hopefully we can gobble him up in our structures,” he said.
“I think everyone can be stopped. I think everyone’s got their weaknesses, even if it’s really, really small. He still might have a weakness somewhere along the line.
“So we’ve got to go out there and we’ve got to beat 22 players from St Kilda, not just one player.
“If we can stop the ball getting delivered to him perfectly then that goes a long way to that.”
