His team might be looking ominous heading into the AFL finals but Richmond coach Damien Hardwick admits Ivan Soldo’s season-ending knee injury creates a headache.

The ruckman will undergo scans but it is feared he has suffered an ACL rupture in the second quarter of Friday’s 26-point win over Geelong at Metricon Stadium and will need a knee reconstruction.

Key forward Tom Lynch also failed to finish the match with a hamstring injury, giving Hardwick plenty to ponder heading into the final home-and-away match of the seaosn against Adelaide next weekend.

A win over the bottom-placed Crows will secure a top-four finish for the premiers, who are also poised to welcome back Shane Edwards following the end of his COVID quarantine just in time for finals.

After last year’s decision to play both Soldo and Toby Nankervis steered the Tigers to a flag, keeping a two-ruck system with Mabior Chol replacing Soldo or going solo with Nankervis is something for Hardwick to ponder.

“We’re not sure we’ve got the answers right now. We’ve got Marbs, those sort of players, that can go through there, but we’ve also lost a key forward as well so we’re going to have some work to do but we’ve got a week to figure that out,” he said.

“We’re very happy with the players we’ve got available to pick.”

Those who do come in need look no further than Dylan Grimes for inspiration on how to make an instant impact coming into the Tigers’ team.

After missing one game with a hamstring, the dual premiership defender led a Tigers’ defence which limited the Cats to just one goal by three-quarter time.

Hardwick lauded Grimes’ influence in a best-on-ground display.

“Many people talk about Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin, and all these guys … this guy’s an incredible talent,” Hardwick said.

“Defenders often don’t get the due that they deserve but he has been a formidable football player for our footy club both on and off the field to be fair,”