James Smart is determined the elimination final with Junee won’t be his last as Gundagai captain-coach.
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Coming towards the end of his second three-year stint as Tigers leader, Smart returns from a knee injury at Anzac Park on Sunday.
He’ll be back at fullback despite not originally not named in the side.
There were doubts over James Curgeven’s fitness for the clash with the Diesels, but he’s expected to play.
With Smart back the Englishman will return to the centres with Rhys Smart dropping back to the bench.
The coach has been plagued by injuries this season.
A hamstring injury, broken hand and now a knee problem has limited the reigning Weissel Medal winner to just seven games so far.
However he believes the knee has been given long enough to recover ahead of the finals charge.
“Obviously it has been frustrating being in and out so many times this season, but this time around I’ve taken the time to sit back and make sure I do get it right,” Smart said.
“I’m feeling a lot better coming into this one.”
Gundagai are still unsure of their final line up.
Joel Field is the biggest concern after injuring his hamstring in the big loss to Albury last week.
Matt Henery didn’t take his place against the Thunder with a knee complaint while Dylan Murdoch also failed to play out the game.
All three have been named to play but a final decision won’t be made until after their training session on Friday night.
The two sides come into the clash with very different form lines.
The Diesels have lost three of their last five games, but only went down against Southcity late before scoring a big win over Young to secure their finals berth.
On the other hand the Tigers looked to be heading into the finals on a high after five consecutive wins before the big slip up on the border.
With their injury problems added in it shapes as a massive clash.
Smart wants his side to bring the right attitude.
“When we bring our energy, enthusiasm and aggression in defence everything else takes care of itself after that,” he said.
“That has been the focus for training during the week and what we need to focus on on Sunday.
“We have to get that right and go from there.”
While the injury clouds are far from ideal it is far from a new situation for the club.
They’ve been dealt injury blow after injury blow this season, starting from losing premiership-winning coach Cameron Woo in round one, but have been able to recover.
“It is nothing new,” Smart said.
“We just have to keep rolling with it and get on with the job.
“We have always believed regardless of who was out on the paddock that we have a good side and it is the same weekend.”
Gundagai scored a 40-10 win when the teams last met, when Smart injured his knee, but Junee have been boosted by the return of captain Daniel Foley since then.
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