Matthew Richardson raring to get back into big timeMatt Windley | July 31, 2009
RICHMOND forward Matthew Richardson is just one week away from a return to the Tigers line-up after the club confirmed he would play in the VFL this week.
Richardson, 34, suffered a hamstring injury against Sydney at the SCG in Round 6 and has missed the past 11 games.
Richmond assistant coach David King said Richardson would play for Coburg against Box Hill Hawks tomorrow.
"He'll come back this week after missing the best part of three months which is fantastic for him," King said.
"He's looking forward to just playing again, I think we're all looking forward to seeing him out at Coburg for the first time in a long while.
"He has missed three months of football, it's quite a substantial absence. So we'll just be happy to see him out there again."
Richardson said he was looking forward to getting back on to the field.
"I reckon I'll be a bit toey come Saturday because I haven't played for three months and nerves always come with getting over injury and then getting through the game unscathed," Richardson said on the AFL website.
"There'll be some smart a---- from the Box Hill Hawks who will want to give me a bit of a spray, but that's all part of the fun and games. I'm big enough and have been around long enough to be able to handle that."
On what he had to do to return to the seniors, King joked 15 minutes would suffice.
"He wouldn't have to play a lot," he said. "He's a quality player . . . he's just got to get out there and tick the boxes as they say - probably play 60 per cent of game time out there -- and just get a feel for (it) again.
"It's probably unfair to bring him straight back in to the team - unfair on him and us. He just has to do a week down there and he'll be right."
The forward carried a strained buttock injury into the May game before suffering the hamstring injury, which needed surgery to repair a partly torn tendon.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25860600-19742,00.html
