Hardwick gutted by Foley blowBy Ashley Browne
Thu 12 Jul, 2012RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has spoken of his disappointment at the season-ending Achilles injury to crack midfielder Nathan Foley.
Foley suffered a partial rupture of the tendon just as he was bidding for selection for Saturday's home game with Gold Coast in Cairns.
"To see him pull up the way he did was sickening to the stomach," Hardwick told SEN on Thursday. "The way he was running around, we were hoping he would play this week."
Foley had missed four matches because of a hip injury.
"It was so disappointing because he'd put in an enormous amount of work," Hardwick said.
"He's a diligent young man.
"As you can imagine, he's pretty flat, but the positive is he can get it fixed and he'll be able to play for a number of years.
Hardwick estimated that before his hip injury, Foley was likely polling in the top five in the Tiger best and fairest.
"He's the sort of player that other sides let go because of the Deledio-Cotchin-Martin match-ups and he was regularly getting 25 touches and hitting up the scoreboard as well," Hardwick said.
"It's a massive loss for us but we just hope he can get himself back and play the good footy that we know he can."
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