Richmond defender Dylan Grimes admitted his “heart sank”, when he saw teammate David Astbury injure his thumb in last Friday night’s first NAB Challenge match against Fremantle at Mandurah.

Grimes said Astbury, who has had numerous injury setbacks since being drafted to the Club in 2009, had worked tirelessly over the pre-season to establish himself as a permanent member of Richmond’s senior line-up in 2016.

Although Astbury has been ruled out for the remainder of the Tigers’ NAB Challenge campaign, Grimes was confident the key defender would be fit to play in the opening round clash with Carlton on March 24.

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“I’m pretty close with Dave and my heart sank when I saw him clutching his thumb on the sidelines. To hear the news was a setback for him, personally, but also for the group because he’d really established himself as a rock of our defence with Alex Rance,” Grimes said.

“Alex and Dave are best mates at the Club and they’ve worked so well together on-field, but also off-field this pre-season, to get each other in the best nick possible.

“It was really heartbreaking to see him go down, but it’s going to be relatively minor in the big scheme of things.

“I think he’ll be eligible to play for Round 1, which is a good result.”

Grimes also was full of praise for another teammate – experienced defender Troy Chaplin – who proved his versatility in last Friday night’s opening-round NAB Challenge match against Fremantle in Mandurah.

The 30-year-old was swung into the forward line, where he booted 1.2 in a lively display.

“You’d think now that he’s starting to get that age in his legs that he might start to slow down. He said that was exactly what he expected as well, but funnily enough, he’s probably had his best pre-season since being at Richmond,” Grimes said.

“The switch up forward is something that might have helped as well.

“Seeing Dave (Astbury) slot into that key-back role so seamlessly, I think that gave him even more confidence to let his hair down and not feel that responsibility of playing that key-role down back, and have some fun with his game up forward.”