Jamil Khalfan has been declared fit to line up for Orange Emus in the side's Blowes Clothing Cup first grade grand final, but the club is still sweating on the fitness of skipper Nigel Staniforth.
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Coach Pete Bromley said Khalfan trained on Tuesday night and declared the No.10 clear to play but Staniforth, who is battling a medial ligament injury, is a greater concern.
Bromley said he'd give his captain every chance to be right for the game.
That's the thing with grand finals, you don't want to go in with players who are 70 per cent fit.
- Pete Bromley
"We'll name him on the bench at this stage, we're giving him every chance we can to get up so we'll make that call on Friday or Saturday," Bromley said.
"He was running on Tuesday night, but he didn't do any contact work because he's just not up to that stage yet."
Levi Russel will step into Staniforth's shoes at fullback as he did during the preliminary final, with Emus naming an unchanged starting lineup from that clash.
Bromley backed Russel to stand up in the absence of Staniforth.
"Levi played pretty well for us last week, and the whole back three were really good for us with their running plays," he said.
However, he added Staniforth, who's arguably in the best form he's ever shown in the greens with a red-hot shot at being named player of the year, would make a massive difference if he could get up for the decider, but needed to prove he was 100 per cent ready to take the field to be named.
"[Nigel] is captain for a reason, his voice and leadership is so important for us," Bromley said.
"But that's the thing with grand finals, you don't want to go in with players who are 70 per cent fit."
The Blowes Clothing Cup first grade grand final begins a 3.15pm at Ashwood Park.
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