TRENT Cotchin has hit the track at Punt Road and been declared a certain starter for Thursday night's Grand Final rematch against Adelaide, after he spent Sunday night in hospital with a migraine.
Cotchin, 27, trained with his Richmond teammates on Tuesday morning just over 24 hours after he sought medical treatment for the migraine, a problem from which he occasionally suffers.
Coach Damien Hardwick admitted to a moment of panic when told his premiership captain had been admitted to the Epworth Hospital.
"The hospital thing came first, so it was always a little bit of a concern," Hardwick said on Tuesday.
"It was a little bit alarming when I heard he was in hospital, but pleasingly enough for us he was discharged pretty early the next day.
"Migraines can be pretty significant, so we're just pleased he got through it and got some treatment and is available to play this week, which is great.
"He gets the occasional migraine and this one was pretty severe. He woke up throughout the night and [his wife] Brooke took him in and they sorted him out.
"He's all good and ready to play."
Hardwick said Cotchin had experienced "a couple of episodes" of migraine since he started at the Tigers as coach in late 2009.
"I think once you're predisposed to that, they tend to come and go," he said.
"It would be nice if we could predict when they are going to come but the reality is we can't … but he'll be fine."
Hardwick declared defender Bachar Houli a certainty to face the Crows after he missed the second JLT Community Series clash with a calf injury, but Dion Prestia will be judged on how he trains on Tuesday.
Prestia wants to play after missing both pre-season games with a hamstring but is more likely to gain match practice in a VFL trial game on Friday against Box Hill.
The Tigers will travel to Adelaide on Wednesday afternoon ahead of Thursday night's game.
Hardwick said they were planning for Crows' captain Taylor Walker and forward Tom Lynch to play.
Meanwhile, premiership forward Daniel Rioli was also on the training track on Tuesday morning for a short session of kicking drills.
The 20-year-old has endured a long rehabilitation from the foot he broke in the Grand Final, which has required two operations; the second earlier this year to remove plates.
"He's progressing to training and is starting to do some lower-end drills," Hardwick said.
"When he plays … we're not going to put a timeframe on it at this stage.
"We realise how important he is to our side and the make-up of our side so when he's ready to play, he'll come in.
"We're probably lucky at the moment, we've got a couple of ready-made replacements: [Shai] Bolton, young Jack Higgins is putting his hand up to play, he kicked three goals last week, Sam Lloyd is in really good form, so we've got enough players to cover that at the moment."
