Richmond has allayed any concerns that post-season surgery to young guns Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt will be a major setback to the pair’s pre-season preparation.

They have both undergone hipscopes since the end of the 2011 home-and-away season, with Riewoldt also going under the knife for finger surgery and a left ankle clean-up.

“Jack will probably be the slowest in terms of his return to training once we start pre-season, just because of the number of surgeries he’s had.  But none of them are issues that will concern us, or him, long-term,” said the Club’s Elite Performance Manager Matt Hornsby.

“ ‘Cotch’ had a hipscope done previously on the other side a couple of years ago, so we always knew there was a chance he’d need the second one done.

“He’d managed it really well through the second half of the season, it didn’t give him too many problems.  Then he got it sorted straight away, as soon as the season finished.

“He’ll be in his running progressions as soon as we start pre-season, the first week in November.”

Hornsby explained that hipscopes were quite a common post-season procedure . . .
“These are a result of hip problems that don’t stop the players from playing, just probably restrict their range of movement. 

It creates a little bit of soreness, but the guys deal with that and then, as soon as the season finishes, it’s the perfect time to get those done,” he said.

“We try and maximise their pre-seasons by getting it done early, giving them a six-eight week rehab. period, so when they come back after their eight-week break, they’re pretty much ready to go.” blog comments powered by Disqus