Richmond’s Tom Lynch is expected to miss just one game with the hamstring strain he sustained last Friday night.
The star Tigers forward came from the ground in the third quarter of the win over Geelong and is now set to be sidelined for the final home-and-away game of the season against Adelaide.
Hamstring injuries are usually at least two weeks on the sidelines but the pre-finals bye after this Saturday’s Round 18 match with the Crows will give Lynch time to recover ahead of the first week of finals.
Teammate Jack Riewoldt says his key forward partner will undergo a similar recovery process to defender Dylan Grimes who recently missed just two weeks with his hamstring issue.
“He hasn’t had any history of hamstring injuries before,” he said on SEN’s Tiger Time.
“I think he’ll be right to go (for the first final).
“He’s bounced back pretty well. I think he’s going to run (today) which is exciting to get him back out on the track.
“So similar progress to Dylan Grimes.”
It was a costly victory over the Cats as ruckman Ivan Soldo ruptured both his ACL and medial ligaments which will sideline him for a lengthy period.
With that in mind, Riewoldt speculated on the likely replacements for both Soldo and Lynch and what the Tigers’ forward set-up will look like this weekend.
Mabior Chol and Josh Caddy are in line to play while Shane Edwards is expected to return after coming through the quarantine hub.
“I think Mabior Chol will probably play a pretty important role over the weekend,” he added.
“You just go like for like. When I say like for like, Mabior probably has a stronger ability to play in the ruck than myself and Lynchy.
“He’s been playing good footy so he’ll come in I would have thought.
“Then after that, you’ve got to have a look and see which way you want to go.
“(Josh) Caddy’s played good football forward as well and been able to play tall. (Shane) Edwards comes out of the (quarantine) hub so he’ll train (today) which is exciting, so you’d think that he comes in.
“There’s some decisions to be made but I think we’ve shown over the last three years that we’ve got the ability to play different types of forwards.
“Guys like (Jason) Castagna, (Jake) Aarts and (Daniel) Rioli certainly can play well in the air as they can on the ground.”
Richmond requires a win over the Crows at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday evening in order to secure a third-placed finish.