Zac Masters ready to strike on grand final day

However he's looking to turn all his hard rehabilitation work into premiership success.

The Tumut co-coach is set to come off the bench against Kangaroos in the Group Nine grand final at Equex Centre on Sunday.

He's looking to make his chance count.

"The surgeon told me I wouldn't play again this year but he did tell me in 16 weeks I could be back into full training and contact," Masters said.

"I mapped that out as the second week of finals but luckily I put a fair bit of time into rehab and I was able to come back in the first week of finals.

"Thank God for that as it would have been very hard on the sidelines watching all this.

"I'm fortunate enough to be a part of it."

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After winning the 2019 premiership, Tumut have been the most dominant team in the competition but haven't got anything to show for it.

They went down to Gundagai in the 2020 grand final, were on top of the ladder when the 2021 season was called off due to COVID before bowing out in last year's preliminary final after Masters was sent off in the first half.

With plenty of changes expected to the team for next season, Masters wants to make the most of their opportunity.

"The last five to six years we've been pretty successful but only have one premiership to show for it at the moment," he said.

"At the end of this year there's probably a couple of blokes retiring, a few blokes moving away for different reasons, and there's great opportunities for some of the boys which is really cool, but we won't get this group together again and it's a pretty special group.

"It would mean a lot to all of us, and the town with a lot of homegrown talent in the side.

"We certainly want to bring it home and have something to show for the last few years."

Tumut went straight through to the grand final after big wins over Kangaroos and Temora.

Masters believes having the week off will be an advantage, especially after the club's preparations for their last grand final appearance.

"The last couple of times we've made the grand final we haven't had two weeks to prepare for it so we're pretty pumped and it can't come quick enough," he said.

"Two weeks in between this time helps massively.

"Last time we went into the grand final we were very busted, we still made it work but there were blokes on the field who wouldn't have played in a usual round game.

"It was the grand final and we had a doctor in there doing local anaesthetics into ribs and that sort of thing just so blokes so take to the field.

"It didn't work out the way we wanted but this time everyone is a lot fresher and we're hoping for a better result.

"It was the goal we set at the start of the year, especially after how the last couple of years have ended, we certainly want to bring home the trophy."

Masters returned for Tumut's 30-10 win over Kangaroos to start the finals series.

However he expects an improved Wagga outfit this time around.

"'Roos are a different outfit to what we played a couple of weeks ago, they've got a couple of very handy players back in the side, so we will be expecting a tougher opposition on Sunday," Masters said.

"It will be a tight match but if we can hold onto the footy I think it will go a long way."

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