Deledio may play against Cats
Geelong Addy
Brad Green
02Aug07
RICHMOND could receive a surprise boost for Saturday's daunting clash against the top-of-the ladder clash with Geelong at Skilled Stadium by the return of young gun Brett Deledio.
Deledio, the 2005 NAB Rising star, broke his hand during the Tigers' round 14 defeat to the Kangaroos.
He was originally predicted to miss four to six weeks.
An appearance this weekend would cap off a speedy recovery for the youngster.
The 20-year-old is back training and has an appointment this morning with the surgeon who operated on the hand to have an X-ray to ensure that the bone has fully healed.
``Then I guess it will be up to the match committee to see if they see me fit to play,'' Deledio said on his club's website richmondfc.com.au
However, Richmond coach Terry Wallace says the coaching staff will not be taking any chances with the 2004 number one national draft draft pick.
He said they would only play Deledio if the surgeon is convinced the hand has mended 100 per cent.
``We won't play him unless he's right,'' Wallace said.
``We've said the whole way along that were not throwing blokes out to get them operated on for the sake of getting them operated on.
``We could have said the hand is no good and he's going to sit out the rest of the year, but that's not been the case.
``He's worked his backside off to get back as quick as he possibly can and it'll be a close call this week.
``We're pretty keen to let our fans know that were still out there having a go and we're still out there trying to play the best available side each and every week.''
Deledio says he would love the opportunity to play against the Cats this weekend.
He was a part of the Tigers side that was trounced by 157 points by the the Cats in round six.
Meanwhile, Richmond forward Nathan Brown said the club has a simple goal for their remaining five matches having scored just the one victory so this season.
``We've just got to be competitive,'' Brown said.
``It's been a terrible season, and we just need to make sure we don't have blow-outs.
``We want to get to the end of the year, and get a good pre-season under our belt.''
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