Prestia, 26, gathered a game-high 32 disposals and 10 tackles in what was the Tigers’ first interstate finals victory.
He has been battling achilles soreness in recent weeks, conceding it was “pretty sore” over the bye weekend.
Such an injury can be troublesome and Prestia admitted there had been reminders of horror stories, but Saturday night’s performance had boosted his confidence.
“Being able to manage it (in the bye week) was the best thing. I was still able to train three or four times … but it was pretty sore,” he said.
“We go again hopefully two more times.
“I always think of when (basketballer) Kobe Bryant snapped his achilles … but I’ve been able to manage it over the last couple of weeks and (how I played) gave me a lot of confidence going into the prelim.
“Being able just to play the way I did and change direction and going on long runs is probably the hardest thing and you’ve got to think about it. I’m really happy with how it’s going.”
Richmond will face either West Coast or Geelong in its home preliminary final in a fortnight and might be favourite to win this year’s premiership, but Prestia stopped short of declaring the feeling was similar to that of the team’s 2017 glory.
“I don’t want to jinx us or anything,” he smiled.
“Having the week off will be good to see who we come up against.
“We obviously got West Coast a couple of weeks ago (in Round 22) and Geelong knocked us off in the middle of the year, so it should be very interesting that game.”
Source: Herald-Sun
