STAR Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt has revealed he had a "sneaky" ankle reconstruction during what was thought to be a routine post-season surgery to clean out his troubled ankle.

Riewoldt rolled his ankle badly in the Tigers' round five loss to Melbourne. He played the following week and did not miss a game all year.

However, he had an operation to clean out his ankle after the Tigers' campaign ended and also underwent surgery to fuse a finger on his right hand.

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Riewoldt told Fox Footy on Tuesday night that the ankle surgery was a bit more serious than he had expected. 

"I thought I was going in for a bit of ankle clean-up," Riewoldt said.

"Turns out I had a sneaky little reco on a lateral ligament there.

"I knew I had to have something done but it went a little bit further than what I thought. I had a finger fused as well."

Riewoldt is currently in a moon boot. He said the surgery would not have a major impact on his pre-season but he expected to be carefully managed prior to the Christmas break.

"Up until Christmas I would say I would probably be monitored and won't be on my feet as early as I usually would be," Riewoldt said.

"But I've had one before on the same ankle and I bounced back from that pretty well." 

Riewoldt kicked 48 goals this season and said the ankle injury had not been an issue for him during the year.