Richmond are storming towards the AFL finals but skipper Trent Cotchin’s dodgy hamstring means he is no certainty to guide them through the home stretch.
The Tigers on Friday night cemented their status as premiership favourites, scoring a dominant 32-point win over Collingwood at the MCG.
But the 14.14 (98) to 9.12 (66) victory was tempered by another injury setback for Cotchin that has left him in doubt for the Tigers’ four remaining games before finals.
The 29-year-old left the ground during the first quarter, having hurt the same hamstring that he seriously injured earlier in the season.
“It’s disappointing. He’s got a little bit of a tweak,” coach Damien Hardwick said.
“We’re not too sure the extent of it at the moment but it was his support leg when he was kicking.
“We’re hoping it will be on the minor side but he’s had the two incidents this year, so he’ll obviously get scans on Monday or over the weekend and have a better idea.”
Richmond’s fifth straight win lifted them to fourth on the ladder, and they are set up beautifully for a home stretch in which they do not leave the MCG.
The dominant form of star recruit Tom Lynch, who has built slowly in his first season at Richmond after having off-season knee surgery, is particularly ominous.
Lynch booted five goals on Friday night in wet conditions hardly suited to a 199cm forward, and he now has 17 majors from his past five games.
“He continues to surprise, doesn’t he?” Hardwick said.
“He looks really strong. His hands were elite. He’s just a quality player.
“You see him and Jack (Riewoldt) working together. They haven’t played a lot of games together so they’re going to get better as time goes on but I was really impressed with both those boys tonight.
“You can hold one but the other one … it’s a sign of a good forward line, I think, when we’ve got some of those damaging big boys down there.”
Hardwick said premiership duo Toby Nankervis and Josh Caddy would both come into consideration for next week’s clash with Melbourne.
The Tigers had been set to pick Caddy for Friday night’s game before he hurt his ankle at training, while Nankervis has now played two games back from injury in the VFL.