Hawthorn defender Tom Barrass has declared his troublesome back is primed after a weekend off, saying he and his fellow defenders can’t wait to have another crack at Fremantle’s triple threat of key forwards in Thursday night’s qualifying final at Perth Stadium.
Barrass has had to manage his back at stages this season, with recent game vision appearing to show him labouring at times.
But the 30-year-old said he was fine, insisting he had learnt to manage his body effectively and was feeling good leading into a likely match-up with powerful forward Josh Treacy.
“Having last week off has given me a nice little rest and allowed me to reset a bit to be prepared for this game,” Barrass said of the Hawks’ break last weekend.
“As you get older, you have to learn how to manage your body effectively and still get the work that you need to play at your best on the weekends.
“I think I have been able to achieve balance and play a healthy amount of footy at the Hawks over the last two seasons.
“There is a point at which you can’t train at complete intensity all the time because personally my joints start to feel it and eventually that finds its way into not being able to move as well on game day.
“But the (Hawthorn) strength and conditioning team are quality … and I have been lucky enough to be the beneficiary of that so far.”
Barrass suffered a hamstring injury in the club’s only game with Fremantle this season, in round 9 when the Hawks coughed up a 15-point three-quarter-time lead as the Dockers stormed home in ‘Wharfie Time’.
He said the Hawks made some in-game mistakes that coach Sam Mitchell addressed with the group immediately after the match.
“Sam wasn’t too pleased about it,” he said. “Freo are a good side and (Perth Stadium) is a very intimidating ground, but the evidence is that if we play a brand of footy that is finals-like, and we are all on the same page, we can beat them.”
“It is going to be a hoot going over there in a hostile environment and trying to play good footy. As a backman, you have to hold your hat on being a competitor and trying your best. If we do that, we can win that game.”
He said the Hawks will have their work cut out negating the multi-pronged Freo attack including Treacy, Jye Amiss and Patrick Voss.
“With the modern defence, we will chop and change a bit based on the way the game unfolds,” he said of the potential match-ups.
“Josh Treacy is probably the No.1 forward I will see down there, but we will have to work together to solve problems and win the contest.”
The 2018 premiership defender said the Hawks were playing good football but still had scope to get better in September.
“There were a few games this year when we were caught on the hop, and we were nowhere near it,” he said.
“Melbourne in Tasmania was one of them. It was a great reminder to the group what sort of effort and intent needs to be present … It’s a part of our evolution as a team.”
“We are improving all the time. Finals footy is a bit more contested, it is a bit more structured and the brand changes.
“I think we are the best prepared we have been to play a good brand in finals, so hopefully we can go better than last year (in a preliminary final).”