Prestigiacomo to play

[mcsean]

Today's Herald Sun
Thank the Lord. Hope this is true!
SIMON Prestigiacomo has been declared fit, buoying Collingwood`s hopes of stifling Essendon`s forward ``super six``.

The regular Magpies full-back showed no sign of distress during a light 45-minute session yesterday and appears certain to win the job on Matthew Lloyd.

``We were always confident he would play,`` Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse said afterwards.

Prestigiacomo injured an ankle during the third quarter of the Magpies` loss to the Kangaroos and was considered a doubtful starter.

A rare 10-day break gave Prestigiacomo a chance to prove his fitness yesterday despite entering the fray late and leaving the track five minutes early.

Simon Hawking, named an emergency and a candidate to replace Prestigiacomo, played in the reserves against Essendon on Sunday.

Tyson Lane, another emergency, also played, but the hard-running James Wasley was left out.

Wasley trained yesterday, but Malthouse was adamant he was rested from the reserves as insurance.

Malthouse said it was too great a risk to play all emergencies two days before the Anzac Day blockbuster.

``I`ve always done it when I was with West Coast . . . it was too big a gap and too much of a risk,`` Malthouse said.

With key position options Mal Michael and Anthony Rocca missing, Prestigiacomo and Mark Richardson will again be asked to shoulder most of the load in defence.

Richardson is likely to play on Steve Alessio, but the Magpies also have to find match-ups for James Hird, Scott Lucas, Mark Mercuri and Gary Moorcroft.

``They are a very good forward line and it`s very difficult to counter them all, but at the end of the day you go in with six and they have six,`` Malthouse said.

Malthouse described Essendon as the ``best side in the competition and they were last year``.

``Premierships can be won or lost on days or a hiccup just prior to,`` he said of the Bombers` shock preliminary final stumble.

``We are under no illusions with the talent level they`ve got, but to me it`s just another step and another challenge . . . it`s just terrific.

``It`s an important game for us, there`s no question about that, but you don`t get any extra points for it.`` While the long break has helped Prestigiacomo get over the line, Malthouse is not so sure it has provided the ideal overall preparation.

``Seven or eight days would`ve been OK . . . 10 days is hanging around,`` he said.