It is time to debunk one of the major myths about Richmond’s magnificent premiership journey throughout the past few years.
Sections of the football media are keen to drive the narrative that the Tigers have had a charmed injury run during this time, which has been pivotal to their success.
A look at the facts, however, reveals somewhat of a different story.
Richmond, in reality, has been hard hit by long-term injuries to key players since 2019, as the list below indicates . . .
2019
Alex Rance missed 24 of a possible 25 games (and never played again after rupturing his ACL in the season-opener against Carlton).
Toby Nankervis missed 13 games.
Jack Riewoldt missed 12 games.
Trent Cotchin missed 11 games.
Jayden Short missed 10 games.
2020
Dion Prestia missed 13 of a possible 21 games.
David Astbury missed 13 games.
Toby Nankervis missed 10 games.
Also, due to personal reasons, with the playing group up in the Gold Coast hub, Shane Edwards missed 11 games and Bachar Houli missed eight games.
2021
Dion Prestia has missed eight of a possible 14 games (and will not play in Round 16 because of hamstring tightness).
Kane Lambert has missed six games.
Nick Vlastuin has missed six games.
Trent Cotchin has missed four games.
David Astbury has missed four games.
Tom Lynch has missed four games.
Toby Nankervis will miss his fourth game in Round 16.
Ivan Soldo has missed all 14 games (and won’t play again this season).
Nathan Broad and Noah Balta will both now spend extended stints on the sidelines, each with a syndesmosis injury.
If that’s a charmed injury run, I’d hate to see a horror one.
