RICHMOND forward Jack Riewoldt has played through bone bruising in his knee before and is in no danger of missing the Tigers' return to finals, according to coach Damien Hardwick.

 

The star goalkicker sent a scare through the Richmond camp last Saturday when he hyperextended his right knee, but he has since been cleared of structural damage.

 

Riewoldt trained on Thursday at Punt Road Oval, along with Trent Cotchin, Chris Newman, Shane Edwards and Matt White, who are all available to face Greater Western Sydney at Skoda Stadium on Sunday.

 

Hardwick said the Tigers were likely to make a decision on Riewoldt's availability on Thursday, and reports that his season could be over were "a little premature".

 

"Obviously he's an important player to us, so we won't put him at any risk of further damage," Hardwick said on Thursday.  

 

"There's a small amount of bone bruising there, which takes a little bit of time to heal.

 

"But he's had that previously so he manages to get through it.

 

"We're pretty confident he'll play."

 

While Cotchin suffered a bruised shin against Carlton, Hardwick said the midfielder was expected to "bounce back and be a solid contributor this week".  

 

He said facing the last-placed Giants was not seen as an opportunity to manage players on the eve of the finals.

 

"We'll certainly be putting our best side on the park, provided they're all fit to play," Hardwick said.  

 

"[The Giants'] record at Skoda is very good … it's going to be a tough game.

 

"We've managed our guys really well on and off the track throughout the year."

 

Hardwick said the Tigers had undergone a frank review of the Carlton loss, which he described as "sloppy" and lacking intensity.

  

"Mentally the guys have got to be switched on and that's the reason we didn't play well last week," he said.

 

"We weren't switched on defensively to stop the counter-punch of Carlton.

 

"It had nothing to do with our physical [state], it was more our mental state."

 

Small forward Jake King, who hasn't played since round 17 because of a hamstring injury, will play this week, but it may be in the VFL with Coburg.

 

On midfielder Dustin Martin, whose contract negotiations have drawn out, Hardwick said he was confident the 22-year-old's head was in the right place.

 

"The measure of a player is, in my opinion, how good their bad games are," the coach said.

 

"Dustin needs to get those bad games better."