Tiger ready for more ups than downs this SeptemberJennifer Phelan
afl.com.au
Aug 28, 2018 1:27PMDION Prestia believes his body is strong enough now to withstand the finals pressure-cooker and he's relieved to have put his injury concerns behind him at the pointy end of the season
With Richmond to begin its finals campaign next week against Hawthorn – and with Prestia admitting he'll relish the mandated pre-finals break this weekend – the 25-year-old is set for a big September after overcoming a number of complaints this season.
"In the games I've played I've come back and played my role, and I feel like I've played some pretty good footy when I have been out there," Prestia told AFL.com.au.
"I've kind of felt like I've come back and been able to play my role pretty well.
"It's just the consistency of getting my body right and getting that continuity.
"I'll enjoy the week off and then roll into the first final."
Minor ankle surgery after the Grand Final last year on an injury he'd carried for much of the season should have had him back on the track for the majority of summer training.
The operation itself wasn't an issue. He had the injury repaired and was back running when the senior players returned to the club at the start of December.
Prestia was eased back into the main group after the festive break and had his sights set on the season opener against Carlton on March 22, but he pinged a hamstring at the end of February and subsequently didn't take part in any of the Tigers' pre-season matches.
Then the injury lingered into the season proper and robbed him of the first three games.
"You're here to play footy, so it has been frustrating," he said.
"I then had ankle surgery, so that set me back a bit, but then I got a few niggles here and there in the pre-season.
"Hopefully I'll be surgery-free at the end of this season and I can just roll straight into a normal program."
Prestia's return to the senior side was short-lived. In round seven against Fremantle, he hurt his calf, and while the Tigers were initially hoping it wouldn't be a lengthy lay-off, it ended up costing him a large chunk of football.
Given it was his second soft tissue injury of the year, and taking into consideration the weeks of summer training lost to the hamstring, he was directed to focus on a strict training block rather than getting back onto the field.
"Having to do a mini pre-season was challenging halfway through the year," he said.
"I guess that's another challenge I've had to face, and it has been frustrating, but hopefully I've come good now."
Prestia came back in round 15 against Sydney and stayed fit until a brutal collision with Collingwood's Travis Varcoe four weeks later broke a couple of ribs and cost him the round 20 clash with Geelong.
He came back for their round 21 trip to Queensland to face Gold Coast but missed the following week with hamstring soreness in a conservative pre-finals move.
Then, in what he hopes is the final peak-and-trough of a rollercoaster season, Prestia played in the season-closer against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.
"I was pretty desperate to play last week but they wouldn't let me," he said of the round 22 clash with Essendon.
"It's been a bit interrupted, but I've pulled up fine, and the week off is actually going to suit me.
"Not many like having the week off leading into finals, but hopefully I'll get a good run in the next couple of games."
Prestia is also hoping to escape the operating theatre when the season ends for the Tigers, so he can avoid the kind of year he's endured in 2018.
"I've had off-season surgery for the last four years so it's something I want to get right, and will do everything I can for the next couple of weeks and leading into next year, go surgery-free and get a decent pre-season in."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-08-28/tiger-ready-for-more-ups-than-downs-this-september
