Rethink for Richo
14/10/2009 12:12 PM
Angus Morgan
Sportal
Richmond veteran Matthew Richardson may be wavering about playing on at Tigerland next season.
The 34-year-old, who was sidelined for all but six games in 2009 as a result of surgery to repair a partially torn hamstring tendon, was understood to be keen to continue next year for what would be his 18th season at AFL level.
As recently as last month, Richardson told Vega FM, "'I feel pretty good and I'm really looking forward to getting back running, so I'm pretty sure everything will work out all right."
Asked if that meant he would play on next season, he said: ''Yes''.
The signals from new Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale on Wednesday, however, were more equivocal.
He said that Richardson, who's away on holiday, had yet to confirm that he would be reporting for duty when training resumes on Monday week, October 26.
"I think there's a role for him in the coach's plans but the decision is Matthew's to go away and decide whether he has the capacity from a physical point of view and the conviction to go around another year," Gale told SEN.
"I guess we're confident at this stage that he will, but we're just awaiting final confirmation from Matt."
"I did see some reports a few weeks ago that were a little more bullish or unequivocal about where he was going, but my understanding is that he's just reserving his judgement for a little bit longer."
Richardson made a failed attempt to return to action late last season when he hobbled from the field only minutes into his comeback match in the VFL.
The club insisted at the time that the problem was not related to his hamstring treatment but that a decision had been made for him to undergo minor knee surgery.
An icon at Punt Road, 'Richo' had been urged by club president Gary March to keep playing and it's understood that new senior coach Damien Hardwick was supportive.
Last season's interim coach Jade Rawlings, who's also Richardson's brother-in-law, maintained throughout his term that Richardson should be entitled to keep playing if that's what he wants to do.
There's no suggestion that Richardson's rethink, if that's what's happening, has anything to do with Hardwick's grand plans to reconstruct what was one of the competition's oldest lists.
"He's got a blueprint for success which involves a number of ingredients and there's a real focus on youth," said Gale.
"We've got some established players that are young, 22 or 23-years-of-age ... and we want to complement that core with a young group and get a core bunch of guys between 21 and 25 in the next few years."
"We wanted to reserve our draft picks to get those sorts of players into the club."
"They're going to be developing years."
Richardson has played 282 AFL games which places him sixth on the club's all-time list, and has won the Tigers goalkicking 13 times for a career total of 800 goals.
http://sportal.com.au/afl-news-display/rethink-for-richo-79575
