Handley rapt to make it back in time for finalsFriday, September 6, 2013 - 11:00 AM - by Chris Pike

CLAREMONT'S Trinity Handley has had to battle back from the first serious injury of his career during 2013 but the dual premiership-winning 174-game veteran is now gearing himself up for yet another finals campaign.

Most of Handley's career has been in Claremont teams that have played finals. He made his league debut in 2004 and went on to play in the losing grand final of that year as well as in 2006 and 2007.

Claremont also made the preliminary final of 2005 and now from 2010 until this year has won four straight minor premierships for three grand finals and two premierships to date.

Handley missed the 2010 season because he was in Victoria meaning he missed the losing grand final of that year coming off the only two seasons of his career in 2008 and 2009 that he hasn't played finals.

That is a remarkable run for the 29-year-old to have been such a key player in so many good sides over the last decade but Handley's versatility has been a massive part of it considering he can play in absolutely any position on the ground whether back, forward, wing, as a midfielder or ruckman.

However, he has also had a good run with injuries up until Round 6 this year when he went down with a broken ankle. He didn’t return through the reserves until Round 19 but has now played the last three league games of the home and away season and is delighted to have made it back.

"Obviously I'm rapt to be able to get back because it was a serious injury and I'd be lying if I said there weren’t a couple of moments where I thought my season was over," Handley said.

"It's just something I have to manage and be really smart with still, but it's also not something that worries me on game day or anything like that now.

"Having played a lot of games as well and playing in some successful teams, it allowed me to keep positive about my rehab knowing there was still more I could offer around the footy club and keep ticking off boxes in my rehab to make sure I came back 100 per cent. I'm stoked to have now been back playing the last couple of weeks."

Three years ago Claremont and Handley were just desperately hoping to find a way to end a run of four losing grand finals, but now heading into the 2013 finals the Tigers have the decided advantage of winning grand finals over West Perth, Swan Districts and East Perth.

Claremont has won the last two WAFL premierships but once the action actually gets underway, Handley isn’t sure it will count for that much out on the field starting against West Perth in this Sunday's second semi-final at Claremont Oval.

"I guess you hope it does count for something, but really we start this week at 0-0 and it's an even contest coming into the finals. I don’t really think it counts for a whole lot, but of course if you had to choose one way or the other you would choose to have players with experience of winning grand finals. I don’t think it will make a huge difference though," Handley said.

"You now know what to expect from losing and winning grand finals, and there is a sense of confidence purely in that you do know what to expect in the coming weeks. That allows you to relax a little bit in terms of your preparation because you can just focus on playing the game and not wondering what it's going to be like, but I'm not sure it will make much difference out there."

A grand final berth for 2013 goes on the line this Sunday at Claremont Oval when the Tigers host the Falcons, but Handley and everyone at Claremont is fully aware that West Perth has enough talent, experience and youth to be able to beat them if they aren’t on their game.

"I think they are a really even team across the ground, that seems to be one of their real strengths," he said.

"A couple of their young players have really come on over the last couple of seasons as well and then of course they have good experienced players with guys like Hunt, Salecic, Guadagnin, Bartholomew and all those guys who lead the way.

"We will now lick our wounds from this game and quickly move on from it, and focus on West Perth on Sunday in the second semi."

One big change for Claremont coming into the 2013 finals campaign is that the reserves will not be there.

The Tigers' reserves have won the last three premierships with that depth a major factor in Claremont's success and also being crucial during the finals allowing the whole senior squad to keep playing.

"When you have two grades playing in the finals there is that bit of a consolation in a sense for you if you miss out on the league side, but this year we won't be able to have that so there will be a few disappointed boys over the next couple of weeks," Handley said.

"At the same time, though, that's the way you need it to be. Successful teams always aim to have strong depth and we know that we need to have other quality players available if others get injured or lose form, and we do that."

Handley also won't be allowing his injury or whatever happens during the finals to push him one way or the other in regards to playing on in 2014 or not.

"Having this injury doesn’t make me worry about getting more injuries and the injuries I have had in the past have been mostly impact injuries," he said.

"I do look after myself as well as I can but I can look at is as I missed a lot of footy and would like to continue playing as a result or the other side of the coin is that one more serious injury can ruin your year in a lot of ways besides football.

"I haven’t made a decision yet and I'm not really too stressed about it. Once the season's over I will have a good couple of weeks off to think about it and go from there. For now I'm just thinking about West Perth in the second semi."