HAMILTON coach Marty Berry decided as soon as the fulltime whistle blew in the preliminary final that Billy Clay would start at fly-half in the grand final against Merewether.
Paul Dan had received his third yellow card of the season in the 59-24 triumph over Wanderers, which triggered a one-game suspension. Hawks' management worked hard to have the ban overturned.
Berry, as much as he wanted Dan cleared, had already moved on.
"You have to get on with it and prepare for the next game," Berry said. "I named Billy on Tuesday night and he has trained all week He has a job to do and I'm confident he will do it."
Clay played the first half of the season at fly-half before nearly cutting his thumb off in a work accident. He was sidelined for two months and in that time the Hawks' attack clicked with Dan as the link man.
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Clay is a different style of player. Big and strong, he carries the ball well and has a thumping right boot.
He played off the bench against Wanderers and earned the Hawks a lineout throw from a 50-22 touch-finder.
"Billy was there at the start of the year and only the injury put him out," Hamilton captain Angus Brown said. "We beat everyone in the comp when he was at 10. He has a great boot as well which is a plus. He will fill the role fine. "Billy knows our structure and will play how we want to play. We won't change anything."
Merewether coach Jamie Lind rates Clay highly and is wary of the threat he poses.
"Billy is a completely different player to Paul. I really feel for Paul," Lind said. "What I do know is that I Billy Clay has never had a bad game against us. Over the past two years, we have played them with him at 10 maybe four times. He is a big body and the better the team he plays against, the better he plays. It is a pretty good story for him to come back."
