Foley, who had been battling to overcome a heel complaint that had sidelined him since the Tigers’ Round 10 victory over St Kilda, was undertaking a running session when the injury occurred.
“He was actually running at sub-maximal pace and was doing a very similar session to what he completed on Saturday, which he pulled up really well from,” said Richmond’s Elite Performance Manager Matthew Hornsby.
“Repeating that session today, he, unfortunately, had an incident.
“We’ve been really cautious and conservative with him, because of his history, so it’s really unfortunate for him.”
The 26-year-old veteran of 120 league games has had a nightmare injury run over the past few years.
During the second half of 2009, he sustained an Achilles injury, which cut short his season and then restricted him to just four appearances in 2010.
Last season, however, Foley played all 22 games for the Club and finished a creditable eighth in the Jack Dyer Medal.
In the first half of this season, he looked like he was returning to his best form, until the heel problem surfaced, followed by today’s setback.
“It’s disappointing because he’s actually been going really well over the last couple of weeks. He’s been feeling strong and running well, with minimal pain,” Hornsby said.
“He’ll have surgery to repair the tendon, which means he won’t play for the remainder of 2012, but we know there’ll be no problems to be ready to go for the start of 2013.”
