COLEAMBALLY'S preparation for finals has copped a big blow with Brianna Clark facing an extended stint on the sidelines with a knee injury.
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The experienced centre courter during Saturday's 28-20 away win over East Wagga Kooringal, played in appalling wet, cold and windy conditions.
The win gives the fourth-placed Blues (7-6) a three game buffer from sixth-placed Marrar, and they look near certain to play Northern Jets in an elimination battle in the opening week of finals.
But they will have to solider on without Clark, who fears she has ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament for a second time.
"We think she may have done her ACL," Coleambally coach Maddie Hillier said.
"She plays centre so obviously that changes the whole team dynamic so close to finals. It's definitely not ideal but hopefully she gets better (scan) results than expected.
She's done an ACL before, knows what it feels like and is leaning towards that."
Coleambally has the chance to take stock with a bye this week, before they take on three teams below them on the Farrer League table to complete the regular season.
It should give Hillier a chance to road test some different line-ups and strategies without one of her more experienced players.
"We've got one of our younger girls, Giaan Cullen, who has had a run through centre and she's proven she's strong enough to run through there," Hillier said.
"She'll probably be the next option.
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"I think there's a pretty good feeling around it (upcoming finals campaign), it's always exciting playing finals and we've got a couple of young girls who haven't experienced senior finals before.
"We'll do some juggling with the team at training."
Hillier said the conditions were some of the worst she had encountered for a game.
"It was awful, probably one of the worst games I think I've played," she said.
In other matches North Wagga continued their strong form with a 46-12 win over Barellan, Temora accounted for Marrar 46-33 and the Jets held off The Rock-Yerong Creek 47-39.
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