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.
Jack Graham, shoulder
"Jack’s going really well. It’s the same sort of rehab he had this time last year on the other shoulder, but he’s probably slightly ahead in terms of his conditioning. He’s doing some really good moderate speed running at the moment…he’s doing his strength work in the gym and building that. At this stage, it’s no contact training after Christmas during January with the aim of full contact around February."
Dylan Grimes, wrist
"Dylan’s going well…He’s only missed 10 days and is back running in rehab and will start with the group next week with some skills."
Alex Rance, knee
"Alex had a very minor scope a couple of weeks ago, just to clean up a little bit of soft tissue in his knee. He’s responded really well, he’s back running close to full speed and we’re going to gradually build his kicking and introduction to football over the next couple of weeks with the view of returning to training post-Christmas. But he’s on track and it’s looking really good for the pre-season competition next year."
Toby Nankervis, adductor
"Toby had groin surgery in the off-season…He was dealing with an adductor avulsion injury during the season, which took us about 12 weeks to get him back playing and then we had some minor interruptions towards the end of the season with that. That tendon that had come away from the bone had to be reattached post-season and he’s back running at about 50 per cent now. He’s feeling really good but we’re taking the longer-term approach and not rushing it…Where he’s at right now is really surprising us, he’s going really well."
Dion Prestia, Achilles
"Dion was managing a little bit of Achilles tendonitis late in the season, which he carried through the finals series. He was able to function really well in what he needed to do but we took the opportunity in the off-season to give him some time off legs away from running and build up some strength...He’s been running now for about five or six weeks and he’s building some really good volume in his training. He’s close to returning to the main group. It’s been a really good result and Dion’s the ultimate professional in everything he does, so he’s put himself in a great position."
Bachar Houli, calf
"Bachar in the off-season had a minor calf strain which we’ve had to manage for the last couple of weeks. Bachar’s now back running in the rehab group and we're just taking a cautious approach towards Christmas and hoping to get him back in with the main group after Christmas."
Shai Bolton, shoulder
"Right now, Shai is back in the rehab group. It was quite minor shoulder surgery, just a clean-up, and he’ll resume non-contact skills with the group starting next week."
Jake Aarts, groin and Luke English, Achilles
"Both Jake and Luke were carrying some minor niggles towards the end of last season through the VFL finals series. (The niggles) didn’t quire resolve over the off-season break so they’ve been back running for the last four weeks with the rehab group and are progressing nicely to come back in with the main group, most likely post-Christmas...But we’ll track them and see where they’re at over the next week or so."
Jack Higgins, brain bleed
"Jack had the brain bleed issue around June then had some surgery to try and fix that problem…eight weeks after that, he went in and had some major surgery where they went into the skull and fixed the problem. We got some great news a couple of weeks ago that the issue is now fixed and clear. During that time, he really hasn’t had a good break…So, we gave Jack a bit more time to come back to the Club when he was ready. He was coming in once a week but he’s got in touch with us this week and said he’d like to resume back full-time which is great news…Jack’s really looking forward to getting back and we'll progress his training carefully through the Christmas period and the new year."
