Stafford rated 50-50
4:39:09 PM Tue 10 May, 2005
Scott Spits
Sportal for afl.com.au
Richmond big man Greg Stafford is rated only a 50-50 chance of lining up against Collingwood at the MCG this Sunday, while gutsy on-baller Chris Hyde will miss another match as he recovers from a fractured skull.
Stafford rolled his left ankle during the second quarter of last Saturday's 85-point demolition of Carlton at the MCG and took no further part in the match.
Richmond coach Terry Wallace said the club won't know if Stafford is ready to play until later in the week.
"He's struggling. He's very, very sore with the ankle. There is certainly still a lot of bruising around. He's been down the beach a couple of times today getting constant physio on it," Wallace said.
The Tigers will select 198cm Adam Pattison for his AFL debut - the fourth youngster to make his debut for the club this season - if Stafford is unavailable.
"Pattison has been ready to go for three weeks but we just haven't been able to fit another big six-foot-five bloke into the structure of our side. We just would have got too big," Wallace said.
"He was probably more advanced than (Danny) Meyer and (Richard) Tambling at the stage that they came into the side.
"He's been in our best three players (in the VFL) for the last four weeks so we wouldn't have any hesitation in playing him."
Hyde has missed two matches since suffering a fractured skull in a sickening head clash with St Kilda's Matt Maguire at Telstra Dome on Anzac Day eve.
"Chris is coming along all right. He was hoping to play this week. He got his medical assessment done last week and the assessment basically said they'd rather him stay out another week," Wallace said.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old Jay Schulz is still several weeks away from senior selection after playing a full match for Coburg in the VFL at the weekend.
He broke his ankle in Richmond's Wizard Home Loans Cup opener against Collingwood in February.
"You would say that he's still weeks away from being up to full speed. I think any player of that ilk that's missed eight weeks or so, probably needs three or four consistent games before he's ready to go."
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