For someone that hadn’t played a game of football for nearly eight weeks, Dion Prestia’s reappearance on the playing field for Richmond in last Thursday night’s big clash with Sydney at Etihad Stadium was seamless.

There were no signs of the calf injury that had sidelined Prestia since Round 7 and he played a valuable role in the Tigers’ win with his hard running and strong work through the midfield.

He picked up 24 disposals, took six marks, had four tackles and seven score involvements.

Some football critics were surprised with Richmond’s decision to immediately recall Prestia into its senior line-up after such a lengthy lay-off, but the Tigers had been meticulous with his preparation and knew that he was ready to go, as the Club’s Physical Performance Manager Peter Burge indicated to ‘Roar Vision’ in an injury update before the mid-season bye.

“Dion’s at a point now where he hasn’t had any symptoms for nearly two weeks,” Burge said.

“He’s getting a really good conditioning base into him and doing a little bit of footy.

“It’s like a mini pre-season and it’s going really well.

“We want to set him up for a strong second half of the season.”

A fit Dion Prestia clearly will be a big bonus for Richmond at the business end of season 2018, just as he was in the latter part of the Tigers’ 2017 premiership year.