Richmond's Josh Caddy likely to miss clash with St Kilda SaintsMichael Gleeson
The Age
24 August 2017The pre-finals bye is likely to be too tantalising for Richmond to push to have Josh Caddy return for the Tigers' critical final-round clash with St Kilda.
Richmond had hoped that the powerful midfielder would be back for the final game after he picked up a minor hamstring strain in the first term of the loss to Geelong at Simonds Stadium on August 12 but that seems less likely now.
A decision is till yet to be made on Caddy, but indications were it was unlikely he would come into the team, especially with the extra week because of the bye after the match.
While Richmond is safely in the eight, they would drop out of the top four if they lost to the Saints and Port Adelaide beat struggling Gold Coast. If the Tigers were to win, their exact position in the top four would also depend on the outcome of the Geelong-Greater Western Sydney game and could come down to percentage.
Sam Lloyd had an astonishing 50 touches in the VFL but even that is unlikely to press his case for a recall to the senior team given the Tigers' small forwards have done nothing to deserve to be left out, with the team coming off a 104-point belting of Fremantle.
Ruckman Shaun Hampson is only two games back from long-term injury and is building towards being available in the finals but he needs more game time to be able to be picked, as does small defender Reece Conca .
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick had been confident or at least hopeful after the Geelong loss that Caddy would be fit for the Saints, who defeated Richmond the first time they met this year.
"We think it's on the minor end. … we just hope he gets back within a couple of weeks," Hardwick said at the time.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/richmonds-josh-caddy-likely-to-miss-clash-with-st-kilda-saints-20170823-gy2q6i.html
