Tumut co-coach Adam Pearce possesses almost as much grand final experience as the rest of his team combined and was never going to let a shoulder complaint keep him out of Sunday's decider.
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Pearce came off late in the dramatic win over Gundagai in last week's preliminary final but is pleased with how his troublesome shoulder has responded.
"My shoulder is good," Pearce said.
"I went down to see Scott Hargrave on Tuesday night and got a fair bit of work done and another massage on Thursday night.
"It's feeling really good."
Pearce missed a week with the problem before finals, before re-aggravating it twice as the Blues scored their first win over the Tigers in nine years to set up a showdown with Southcity for the premiership on Sunday.
"It's been a problem," he said.
"A couple of rounds out from finals I hurt it pretty bad, had a week off and have struggled through finals a little bit but it is feeling now than it ever has."
Pearce was part of premierships with the Blues in 2007 and 2010 but has lost his last two grand final appearances.
He was on the wrong side of the result with Queanbeyan Kangaroos in 2012 and 2016, and also missed their 2013 premiership after breaking his arm two weeks before the grand final.
Heading into his fifth decider, the second rower is determined to keep a perfect record with the Blues in tact.
He's also far from concerned that so many of his teammates have never even experienced one let alone won one.
"We are not worried about it and know we have a good enough team to win," Pearce said.
"As long as us older blokes can get the younger fellas up for it.
Pearce returned to the club in 2017, and was captain under Jarrad Teka, before combining with Dean Bristow as captain-coaches for the past two seasons.
He's thrilled to have delivered their first grand final appearance in nine years but is determined to go one better.
"That was what the plan was when I first came home - to help the club out and get us back on top," Pearce said.
"It's good that it's happened so soon."
A premiership would be the perfect late birthday present after the Blues leader turned 32 on Thursday.
Pearce also believes it could start another strong period for the club, who won four titles in eight years before their lean patch.
"It would be unreal just to get the confidence of all the young blokes up," he said.
"If you get a few young blokes in a grand final and they win it they can go on to do anything for the next few years here.
"It would help them build on a good future for Tumut hopefully."
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