Werribee Centrals coach Rhyce Prismall has declared himself and captain Michael Culliver fit for Sunday’s cutthroat first semi-final meeting with Thomson.
Prismall has been sidelined with a knee issue since the Round 14 win over Anakie, and a hamstring issue kept Team of the Year member Culliver out of the final round win over Thomson, as well as last week’s qualifying final loss to Belmont Lions.
It’s further good news for the Centurions, who confirmed the re-signing of both for the 2025 season.
“We both had a big night on the track (Tuesday) night,” Prismall said.
“If last week was a grand final, we both would have played, I reckon. But it’s good to get a few extra sessions into us.
“We’re pretty much at full strength, bar one or two. Most other clubs would be missing more than that, so we’re really lucky.”
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Prismall has played down the added external pressure the losing qualifying finalist faces in the top-five system.
“I think there probably is (pressure) on paper to the external footy world,” he said.
“But, we underperformed on Saturday. The only pressure that’s coming is internal for us to get better.
“We’ve set a really high standard for ourselves all year. We know we deserve to be deeper in the finals than week two.
“We’ll do everything we’ve been doing, plus more, to make sure this isn’t our last week.”
The Centurions had the better of Thomson in both meetings during the home-and-away season, including by 41 points in their final-round clash at Godfrey Street.
However, the Tigers were missing a host of key players that afternoon, including Team of the Year defender Steve Salajan and forward guns Dan Freeman and Jacob Knight.
“We’ve beaten them twice, but I think you’ll probably find in the Round 8 clash that they had a lot different (personnel) than we did at the time, and the conditions were a bit dryer,” Prismall said.
It was a bit sloppy when we played them out there (at Thomson).
“We probably had 5-6 out, they had 5-6 out. Big ground (at St Albans Reserve), different conditions, finals footy, it’s nil-all, it’s a clean slate.
“We’re excited for another really intense game that Belmont gave us… and we know Thomson will bring the same heat and the same professionalism.
“We’re looking for a bit of redemption.”
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