Border Mail |
ANDY Carey says time will tell whether his decision to play in today’s blockbuster against Lavington is the right one.
Carey, who hasn’t played for Albury since last year’s grand final due to knee problems, trained strongly on Thursday night and has opted to roll the dice against the in-form Panthers at the Albury Sportsground.
But Carey is the first to admit he’s got no idea how that plan will go.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Carey said.
“It feels all right and I thought I may as well have a crack.
“I’ve probably trained more over the past five or six weeks than I have the past three or four years.
“I did all the training on Thursday night and waited to see how it pulled up.
“It feels good but only time will tell.”
Carey, who watched on from the sidelines as the Tigers fell to arch-rival Yarrawonga by 10 points last week, admitted that game played a small part in his decision to play today.
“It was probably the first time in a while I was a bit toey to get back out there and play,” he said.
“I wished I was out there, last week.”
Albury co-coach Daniel Maher said the Tigers were confident Carey, who booted 67 goals last season, would bring plenty to the table, despite his extended lay-off.
“At the very least he takes a good defender,” Maher said.
“He was very close last week and I think it stirred him up a bit.
“He’s a great focal point to have in the team.”
Lavington coach James Saker said the Panthers, who have lost just once since their first round loss to the Tigers, were keen to pit themselves against the league heavyweight again.
“We’re very keen to see where we are at,” Saker said.
“We think we’ve improved since we played them in round one but I’m sure Albury has, too.
“I saw Daniel Maher’s quote after last week’s game that Albury doesn’t lose two in a row and so we’re expecting a really tough battle.”
Today’s clash starts at 2.10pm.
