Richmond’s Physical Performance Manager Peter Burge provides ‘Richmond Media’ with an update on the injury status of several members of the Tigers’ playing group.

Kane Lambert, Achilles

“Kane’s improved this week. He developed a little bit of Achilles tendinopathy after the Fremantle game and then took it into the Hawthorn game and flagged after that game that he was a bit sore. It did stop him from being at his best, running at high speed which is his real strength in the game. So, we took the chance to take him out of footy for a couple of weeks."

Jake Riewoldt, PCL

"Jack’s progressed really well. He spent a week running on the Alter G last week and ran outside for the first time yesterday and his knee is quite stable now and functionally feeling pretty good. We’ll have to go through a mini preparation phase and build the volume of running and then into some speed. (He’ll be back) after the bye, when after the bye, it’s hard to say at this stage but we’ll progress it carefully. We want him to be healthy when he comes back and then he can finish the season."

Trent Cotchin's return

"(He pulled up) really well from his first game back. Trent played 72% game time on Friday night. He hadn’t played for seven weeks and generally after a player has missed that significant amount of time, the first week back we tend to give them a light week. He’ll do a little bit of training this week and obviously play again this Friday night against the Cats."

Oleg Markov, illness

"Oleg has been sick, in the Essendon game (VFL Round 8) he felt sick that day. He played in the game and did quite well but was feeling ordinary. He came in on Monday last week feeling a little bit better but then during the main training on Wednesday he deteriorated and the doctor called us and made a decision that he wouldn’t be playing on the weekend. But he’s much better now, feeling a lot better so he’s got a full week of training ahead and will hopefully play on the weekend."

Jake Aarts, general soreness 

"Jake Aarts has had a couple of corkies the last couple of weeks and he had a little bit of 'DOMS' (delayed onset muscle soreness) through his hamstrings last week and we just took the opportunity to give him a rest on the weekend. He’ll fully train this week and be back this weekend."

Luke English, scapula 

"He’s had a rough trot recently. A few weeks back he missed a game through illness and then a week later he had an unfortunate incident at training where he fractured his scapula, which is a long-term injury. He’s now back jogging outside, he’s got a bit of discomfort but that will gradually get better over next couple of weeks and he’ll be able to increase his running and conditioning base. We’re still quite a few weeks away but at least he’s back on the track and getting his conditioning base up and hopefully we’ll get some good news soon."

Marlion Pickett, finger

"Marlion started with us late last week and we obviously knew the news around his finger, he had surgery on Saturday a week ago and that’s on top of a pre-season finger injury. We’re getting a bit more information, it’s going to be a longer-term injury but we’ll get a bit more of an exact time frame once he’s seen a specialist but we’re really confident he’s going to play some footy towards the end of the year. He can still run and do a lot of the conditioning and kick the ball. He’ll train separate to the group for a little while, we’ll get him really fit and he’ll hopefully play some football towards the end of the season."

Toby Nankervis, groin

"'Nank' has got a few more boxes to tick in terms of strength in the gym with his groin, but overall, his running and his conditioning, it’s a post-bye scenario for 'Nank'. When that is, I'm not exactly too sure at this stage. But he is going really well and hopefully he’ll do a little bit of training over the break and then we can introduce him back into football at some stage just after the bye."

Jayden Short, elbow

"Jayden is progressing really well. His elbow is going great at the moment and he’ll resume football training over the next week or two. We’re targeting the first game after the bye, probably on reduced minutes, but it’s really exciting as he’s been out for quite a while. Like a lot of our players, after the bye seems to be the scenario at the moment." 

Injury List:

Probable
Jake Aarts - General soreness
Oleg Markov - Illness

Unavailable
Toby Nankervis – Groin (medium term)
Callum Moore – Ankle (long term)
Jayden Short – Elbow (medium term)
Jack Riewoldt – Knee (medium term)
Luke English – Shoulder (medium term)
Jack Ross – Ankle (medium term)
Alex Rance – Knee (long term)
Kane Lambert – Achilles (short - medium term)
Marlion Pickett - Finger (long term)