Richo in doubt for Swans
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen 12:03 AM Sun 26 April, 2009
RICHMOND star Matthew Richardson is in doubt for next week's clash with the Sydney Swans after injuring his glute muscle in Saturday night's breakthrough 36-point win over North Melbourne.
Richardson limped form the field in the first minute of the second term with what appeared to be a hamstring injury and went straight to the rooms, but reappeared with his leg heavily iced.
"He had a glute strain, high up in the buttocks – it wasn't a tear or anything like that," coach Terry Wallace said post-match.
"It was certainly very, very restrictive so he just couldn't get into any stride at all."
But circumstances meant the Tigers were forced to send their gun back onto the ground, albeit in a restricted role.
"We got to a situation where we took him off and weren't going to bring him back on," Wallace said.
"But with the nature of the game now, with them having [captain Brent] Harvey off, we knew if he could do a job for us by taking one of their guys to the goal square, that allowed us to keep our guys fresher, because we had one more rotation than the opposition.
"That gave us a big advantage."
Wallace said he wasn't sure if the 34-year-old would play next week.
"He's a chance to play next week – it's just a strain so we'll just have to see how he pulls up and what happens."
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