Cousins may return on Anzac Day
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen
Wed 15 April, 2009
INJURED Tiger trio Ben Cousins, Trent Cotchin and Andrew Raines could all return to football on the Anzac Day weekend.
Cousins strained his hamstring in the round one match against Carlton, sprinting out of the defensive 50 in the last quarter.
With the former Eagle having a history of hamstring-complaints, the Tigers are being very cautious about bringing him back to a competitive playing environment.
Cotchin has been battling an achilles injury after overtraining in the pre-season, meaning he has now missed most of the two pre-seasons he has spent at Punt Rd after a different achilles injury cost him the lead-in to his debut year of 2008.
Raines tore the lateral meniscus in his left knee in the last term of round one against Carlton, and although it is the same knee that he dislocated last year, the injury is not related.
Richmond football manager Ross Monaghan told richmondfc.com.au that the trio were a chance to return in less than two weeks.
"Rainsey, Cuz and Cotch are all roughly at the same stage," he said.
"They won't play this week but they're all possibilities for the week after.
"They're all possibilities for the Anzac Day weekend, but I wouldn't say any of them are certainties."
Cotchin – who finished third in last year's NAB AFL Rising Star award despite playing just 15 matches – has missed a significant amount of football and would return via Richmond's VFL affiliate Coburg, Monaghan said.
"It's all still to be decided how we'll re-introduce them, but given that Cotch has missed a number of weeks, he'll certainly come through the VFL.
"We'll see with Rainsey and Cuz as to the path we use to bring them back into the team."
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