RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has spoken of his disappointment at the season-ending Achilles injury to crack midfielder Nathan Foley.

Foley suffered a partial rupture of the tendon just as he was bidding for selection for Saturday's home game with Gold Coast in Cairns.

"To see him pull up the way he did was sickening to the stomach," Hardwick told SEN on Thursday. "The way he was running around, we were hoping he would play this week."

Foley had missed four matches because of a hip injury.

"It was so disappointing because he'd put in an enormous amount of work," Hardwick said.

"He's a diligent young man.

"As you can imagine, he's pretty flat, but the positive is he can get it fixed and he'll be able to play for a number of years.

Hardwick estimated that before his hip injury, Foley was likely polling in the top five in the Tiger best and fairest.

"He's the sort of player that other sides let go because of the Deledio-Cotchin-Martin match-ups and he was regularly getting 25 touches and hitting up the scoreboard as well," Hardwick said.

"It's a massive loss for us but we just hope he can get himself back and play the good footy that we know he can."

Better news for the Tigers is that defender Kelvin Moore is on the verge of senior selection after several major hip operations. He will fly to Cairns with the Tigers on Thursday and could be selected if he gets through training.

"When he first went in for surgery the doctors likened it to a car crash and said he would be lucky to play footy again," Hardwick said. "They virtually had to separate them and rebuild them."

"For him to come back to the level and to play with intensity and speed, we're just really pleased with how he's going and he's put up his hand for selection, so we'll see how he goes."