Richo's injury hard to handle - Wallace

[one-eyed]

Matthew Richardson injury hard to handle
24 July 2006   Herald-Sun
Tim Morrissey and AAP

RICHMOND forward Matthew Richardson is still being seriously hampered by his injured wrist and is not expected to recapture his best form for another month.

That was coach Terry Wallace's view following the Tigers 48-point loss to Sydney on Saturday night at the SCG.

Richmond was soundly beaten and its task to make the finals has been made all the harder because of Richardson's handling problems.

The veteran had a dirty night and has only had three scoring shots in three matches since returning from a fractured wrist.

Wallace said Richardson was not 100 per cent fit but was still a much better option than the club's 23rd best player.

``Richo is at that stage where he is still not able to handle the ball as well as he would like,'' Wallace said.

``He is getting better each week and it will get better. I think it will still be a full month before he is right.''

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,19884999%255E19742,00.html

[mightytiges]

I don't see how carrying someone who is well below 100% helps the side even if his name is Richo. We tried that with Browny in the first 3 games and it did us nor him any good. It's sad seeing Richo struggle when you know he is busting his guts out but his body isn't right yet to allow him to play his normal hard running and mark game.

[Mopsy]

Matthew Richardson injury hard to handle
24 July 2006   Herald-Sun
Tim Morrissey and AAP



Wallace said Richardson was not 100 per cent fit but was still a much better option than the club's 23rd best player.

``Richo is at that stage where he is still not able to handle the ball as well as he would like,'' Wallace said.

``He is getting better each week and it will get better. I think it will still be a full month before he is right.''

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,19884999%255E19742,00.html

If at this time is a better option than our 23rd player It will be another 10 years before we are competitive.

[one-eyed]

Richo to play as required
4:02:34 PM Tue 25 July, 2006
Jennifer Witham
Sportal for afl.com.au

Richmond coach Terry Wallace has revealed that spearhead Matthew Richardson is still struggling from the broken right wrist he suffered in round nine but would continue to play as long as the Tigers' finals hopes remain alive.

Wallace said Richardson was continuing to have difficulty with his ability to push off opponents, his tackling, going to ground, marking, and was tending to lead with his 'good' left hand.

But the Richmond coach said Richardson was still keen to play and felt that playing was the best rehabilitation he could have.

Full article at: http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=283762

[mightytiges]

With the Tigers still a mathematical chance to make the finals, Wallace compared the situation to that of Port Adelaide and its decision to rule gun forward Warren Tredrea out for the rest of the year with a nagging knee complaint.

Wallace said that if the Tigers weren't a chance of playing into September and if an extended period of rest would benefit Richardson, the club would consider taking a similar path.

"If (Port) felt they were still alive in the competition they may have made a different decision. I don't know, I'm not in their position," Wallace said.

"We're still alive and well, so we've tried to keep the door open, are we better with him in our side or are we better without him in our side in his current situation, that's an interesting question.

"There's no right or wrong answer to that one, we all have our own opinions and that will be the match committee's opinions that will count."

Might be Richo's last game for the year if we lose this week.

We defeated Collingwood easily without the big fella so we can win without him. I don't see the point of playing someone who's obviously not right.

[one-eyed]

Tigers once again wrestle with a Richo question
Guy Hand
The Age
July 26, 2006

RICHMOND is wrestling with how best to handle spearhead Matthew Richardson, with coach Terry Wallace admitting the Tigers may rest him if they felt it would speed his return to form and full fitness.

Richardson has had no impact in three AFL games following his return from surgery on a broken wrist, and has admitted he is playing with pain in his injured hand. But he wants to keep playing, believing it will help his recovery.

Wallace said the question of whether to rest or play his most dangerous forward was a difficult one, likening it to the conundrum Port Adelaide faced with skipper Warren Tredrea, who had been playing with a knee injury. Port had its finals chances snuffed out with a loss last weekend, and immediately sent Tredrea for knee surgery.

"Like any team in this competition, if you weren't alive and you believe it was better for him (to rest) coming into another year, you'd make that decision at that stage," said Wallace, whose Tigers remain in finals contention, though a loss to St Kilda at the MCG on Saturday could kill off their top-eight hopes.

"That's not the circumstances … we're still alive and well. The bottom line is he's had a major injury, and he's still sore. He still gets pain through the injury.

"Yes, we can rest him, but he believes he needs to play and get movement back in the hand and the wrist to get back to playing his best footy.

"He's not getting worse after any game — it's not that sort of issue.

"We've got a situation where we've got to make a decision — do we keep going down the same path, or do you try to get him better over a couple of weeks?"

Richardson's fate this week is likely to be decided at training tomorrow.

But while the Tigers consider their options over Richardson, weekend rival St Kilda is set to return accident-prone Justin Koschitzke to its line-up.

After fracturing his skull in a sickening clash with Western Bulldogs rival Daniel Giansiracusa in May, collapsing on national television in June and colliding with a reserves umpire earlier this month to earn a one-match suspension, Koschitzke trained yesterday in a closed session.

Wallace said the Tigers would plan for the ruck-forward to play — their would-be spies kicked out of training at Saints headquarters today by club officials, along with media.

"I can understand that — we did a similar thing when we didn't know when we were going to play Richo and we didn't want it to become a media circus," Wallace said of the Saints' lockout. "I understand exactly why they would be going down that pathway."

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/07/25/1153816183852.html

[Stephanie]

Might be Richo's last game for the year if we lose this week.

We defeated Collingwood easily without the big fella so we can win without him. I don't see the point of playing someone who's obviously not right.

Exactly, we have won without him, why play him and risk making his injury worse?
Rest him until he is 100% fit. We can't rely on Richo all the time.

[WilliamPowell]

If at this time is a better option than our 23rd player It will be another 10 years before we are competitive.

I took it to mean with the long injury list we've got at the moment (no Cogs, Newman, Thursfield etc) and the way the balance of the blokes are going at Coburg - he is a better option. I reckon if Staff was in some sort of form - they'd probably not have played him so soon