STREAK OF GOOD FORTUNE

“I thought if we could get back on track, perhaps not hit form straight away, but slowly get ourselves back into some touch. I thought it could set things up for us.”

“That time (during the club’s injury run) probably forced me to step up in a way. I was a senior player in there and I think that in a way has helped me.”

The 2017 premiership Tiger helped drive the team in the absence of key players, including skipper Trent Cotchin, and in the process elevated his game and his leadership skills.

But an achilles issue late in the season had some wondering if he was going to be fit to make an impression during the finals.

“It was pretty sore after the last game (Round 23),” Prestia revealed. “I didn’t do much training that week and let it settle a bit.

“I was always going to play in the first final (against Brisbane). It was a hard deck (at the Gabba) and different weather conditions which may have helped a bit.

“I was able to roll in and do the normal program (last week) and we had a pretty big session (last) Friday. Having two weeks off in the past three weeks has definitely helped, especially when you play all the games in a year.

“It’s feeling really good now heading into Friday’s game.”

Prestia’s form and his resilience this year against a wave of injuries to teammates comes in part from the fact he enjoyed his first full pre-season in years.

That saw him primed for 2019 and nominated in the best 40 players as part of the initial All-Australian squad.

He’s excited for teammate Tom Lynch, with whom he initially formed a close relationship at the Gold Coast, in getting the chance to play his first MCG finals match tomorrow.

“Tom’s done some amazing things this year,” he said. “To be able to play every game this season without having a preseason at all is incredible.

“Jack Riewoldt coming back (from injury) really helped Tom a lot. It’s hard to stop two gun forwards …

“(The Cats’ game) will be an amazing experience for him and a lot of our boys who haven’t played a lot of finals, including myself.”

Incredibly, Prestia has played in three successive preliminary finals since joining the Tigers from the Suns.

But he said the Tigers haven’t put too much of a focus on the Round 12 loss to the Cats, given the huge number of personnel changes since then.

“We’ve changed a lot structurally and tweaked a lot of things in our game plan and our game system, as I am sure Geelong has done too in that time,” he said. “Going through their midfield group, they have some amazing players — a Brownlow medallist (Patrick Dangerfield).”