Tenace lives every player’s nightmare
A “GUTTED” Kane Tenace has been ruled out of tomorrow’s grand final.
St Mary’s coach Troy Mitchell last night revealed Tenace would not be recalled for the clash against St Joseph’s as he continues to overcome a hamstring injury.
“He’s going to miss out,” Mitchell said of Tenace.
“I don’t think we will change the side, but it looks like he won’t get a gig. But he’s got to train tonight (last night).”
Mitchell conceded Tenace was far from 100 per cent, having injured his hamstring in the qualifying final thrashing of Bell Park.
“I don’t think he’s right and you can’t go in with blokes like that,” he said.
“It’s a big ground, and with the way we play, we’ve got to have guys who can go and go hard all day. We need the full 22 and if we think he’s not quite there, he won’t get a gig.
“We had a chat after he did the hamstring and he wanted to know where he stood. He said ‘this is what my plan is’ and I said ‘go for it, we’ll see how it goes’ and realistically it’s probably a week too early for him to get back. He probably needed an extra week and it would be a big risk with someone who is not quite right.”
Despite the news, Tenace has remained positive around the group.
“He’s been great,” Mitchell said. “He knows his body and he’s super honest with everything that he does. He just wants the best for everybody, but he's also gutted, so it’s a Catch 22. You’ve got to put that aside and support the other boys and make sure you have a good presence around the place and he’s done that.
“He’s so well liked, so it just makes it hard.”
Barring a mishap at training, the Saints are likely to enter the clash unchanged.
“We will finish selection but we haven’t got any injury worries,” he said.
“A few guys pulled up sore but the week off has been good. We’ve kept off our legs and put a lot of work into other stuff.”
St Mary’s inflicted Joeys’ first loss of the season in the second semi-final, winning by 40 points, and Mitchell knows his team must be ready for an early onslaught.
“It’s about how we come out ... we’ve got to come out with the right attitude and a massive self belief, which we do have now.
“We’re feeling really comfortable with our game plan and we planned for this eight to nine weeks ago. This hasn’t just happened overnight. We’ve put a lot of work and effort into getting it right at the right end of the year. You don’t win anything in July, you win it now and our plan was always to be ready to go come September.”
The Saints’ secret weapon is fitness guru Steve “Stoofa” Lewry, who has driven two sessions a week for the last eight weeks.
“He’s done a massive amount of work with our young blokes with their core work and upper-body strength and taken it to a new level.
“He’s been fantastic, and with the older blokes, he’s given them a different direction to go about their preparation and fitness.
“We were putting in two nights a week with him, plus the extra night of footy at the club. A lot of work has gone in and it’s about understanding how to get yourself right at the end of the year to give yourself the best opportunity to play well.
“We wanted to get our fitness to another level and he’s been awesome.”