'Sneaky' ankle reco for Richmond star Jack RiewoldSeptember 20, 2016 9:07 PM
STAR Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt has revealed he had a "sneaky" ankle reconstruction during what was thought to be a routine post-season surgery to clean out his troubled ankle.
Riewoldt rolled his ankle badly in the Tigers' round five loss to Melbourne. He played the following week and did not miss a game all year.
However, he had an operation to clean out his ankle after the Tigers' campaign ended and also underwent surgery to fuse a finger on his right hand.
Riewoldt told Fox Footy on Tuesday night that the ankle surgery was a bit more serious than he had expected.
"I thought I was going in for a bit of ankle clean-up," Riewoldt said.
"Turns out I had a sneaky little reco on a lateral ligament there.
"I knew I had to have something done but it went a little bit further than what I thought. I had a finger fused as well."
Riewoldt is currently in a moon boot. He said the surgery would not have a major impact on his pre-season but he expected to be carefully managed prior to the Christmas break.
"Up until Christmas I would say I would probably be monitored and won't be on my feet as early as I usually would be," Riewoldt said.
"But I've had one before on the same ankle and I bounced back from that pretty well."
Riewoldt kicked 48 goals this season and said the ankle injury had not been an issue for him during the year.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-09-20/sneaky-ankle-reco-for-richmond-star-jack-riewoldt
