Royals with selection dilemmas ahead of preliminary final clash with North Albany

Royals will make at least one change for their sudden-death preliminary final but last year’s premiership hero Jordan Heil remains only a 50:50 chance to return against North Albany on Saturday when the Great Southern Football League finals commence. If both Mitch Curnow and Heil returned to the undefeated side, the Lions face a tough time at the selection table to get both the first-choice players back into the line-up. The Lions will host an expected fired-up Kangas outfit at Centennial Stadium in the do-or-die final, as the minor premiers look to secure a grand final berth. Lions premiership coach Andrew Ruck said there were lots of tough decisions this week. “Mitch will come back in after missing last week and Jordan is a 50:50 chance to return,” he said. “Brett Hooper was fantastic last week and played his best game all year while Brent Johnson has been playing a role for us. “They are the younger ones in the team but will be very stiff if they miss.” The Lions defeated the Kangas by a whopping 83 points last week but Ruck said his side must not be complacent. “They left a few cues in the rack last week but they will come out all guns blazing on Saturday,” he said. “If they get a quick start it will be game on. “There midfield is close to the best in the competition when they are up and running and their young fella in the ruck was good. “We will look to work him over in the ruck and I think our depth helps us.” The Kangas will be looking to upset the Lions after losing both their encounters to them this season and return to grand final day in new coach Leigh Hislop’s first season at the helm. “We absolutely want to turn around last week’s result, we need to be more accountable and disciplined,” he said. “They are a sharp team and their record proves they are the best in the competition. “Accountability and discipline hurt us last week. “We had too many passengers last week so we need to turn that around and need more players to buy in this week.” The Kangas were knocked out in the first semifinal last year but Hislop said this stage is all or nothing. “It is going to be a tough game, regardless of the result we will be a lot more competitive,” Hislop said. “Finals is different footy so anything can happen. “We go in as underdogs after being favoured in the last few years in finals, but the past is forgotten when it comes to this match.” The Lions and Kangas do battle in the reserves while the Lions and Albany face off in the colts and Sharks and Mt Barker meet in the under-16s for a grand final berth. The league game starts at 2.30pm on Saturday.