Riewoldt falls short, Tigers wary of Hawks
Aug 4, 2017 - 3:17 AM Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is wary of a resurgent Hawthorn as the Tigers face another week without Jack Riewoldt.The star forward fell short in his desperate bid to line up against the Hawks after undergoing surgery on his right eye.
Riewoldt required several stitches after suffering a cut to the cornea when he was accidentally poked in the eye at training.
After sitting out Saturday's win over Gold Coast -- the first game he had missed since late-2013 -- Riewoldt was determined to face the Hawks, going as far as to seek a third medical opinion.
"He was pretty close. A couple more days in training and he might have been available to play," Hardwick said on Friday.
"He not only went to one doctor, he went to two and then he was looking for a third to get the response he was after, that's how desperate he was to play.
"He's an important player for us obviously so we didn't want to risk any further damage."
The Tigers did a good job on the offensive end against the Suns in Riewoldt's absence, finishing with 28 scoring shots and falling just short of the 100-point mark.
"Our accuracy wasn't quite to the level that we'd like but our ability to move the ball inside-50 was good," Hardwick said.
"You always like to have good players back so we're going to miss him again this week and we look forward to welcoming him back next week."
Hawthorn are likely to present a much tougher challenge to the fourth-placed Tigers at the MCG on Sunday.
After a rough start to the season, coach Alastair Clarkson has done a masterful job of moulding his new-look lineup back into finals contenders.
Hardwick was full of praise for his former mentor on Friday, declaring that the Hawks were back to their best.
"Offensively, they're controlling the ball really well .... defensively, they're elite," he said.
"He's got them playing some great footy and he's always a great coach."
Hawthorn will be without suspended veteran Luke Hodge but could welcome back goalsneak Paul Puopolo after six weeks out with a groin injury.
Classy midfielder Dion Prestia missed Richmond's win over Gold Coast with knee soreness but has been added to their extended squad and will play if he makes it through training.
Source: AAP
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