Farrer League
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MARRAR coach Clint Taylor has drawn up a list of pros and cons to help him make a tough call on Bombers swingman Brad Turner.
Taylor has been wracking his brain this week to decide whether to name Turner in the 22-man team for Sunday's elimination final clash with North Wagga.
The athletic key forward has spent the past fortnight on the sideline, and was last week informed he will need to undergo a shoulder reconstruction at the end of the season.
Exactly when his season ends, however, is yet to be confirmed.
Turner has returned to training and is battling to prove his fitness ahead of Sunday's do-or-die game.
His fate is now in the hands of Marrar's selection panel.
"We've got to weigh up whether it's worthwhile to play Turns during finals or not," Taylor explained.
"There's the danger that we name him and he gets injured in the first quarter and then we're a man down for the rest of the game.
"On the other hand if we can get a quarter out of Turns he can change the game.
"We'll have to have a chat about it all."
Turner almost instrumented a thrilling come-from-behind win last time the Bombers went up against North Wagga.
Marrar had no right to win the round 11 clash at McPherson Oval, but Turner took a massive pack mark in the dying minutes and ended up hitting the post from directly in front of goal.
North Wagga went on to win the game by 14 points.
The Bombers will need to reverse the result to keep their season alive this weekend.
The loser of Sunday's clash will be treated to an early Mad Monday, while the winner will remain in the premiership hunt.
After winning eight of their first nine games for the season, Taylor believes the Bombers deserve better than a week-one exit.
"I talked to the boys about it and we agreed we'll only be letting ourselves down if we're knocked out this week," Taylor said.
"We've gone off the boil a bit in the latter half of the year but we've still beaten every team bar Temora, and we've had a decent year considering.
"We think we've still got a lot to give in this finals series so a loss on Sunday would be devastating."
Whether Turner plays on Sunday or not, Taylor is planning to remain at half-forward and play a similar forward structure to the one that kicked 19.10 against The Rock-Yerong Creek at the weekend.
In-form midfielder Shane Macintosh bagged five goals on Saturday and should be rewarded with a role as small forward again this week.