RICHMOND star Dustin Martin will play against West Coast on Saturday, but it remains to be seen whether he will wear a helmet to protect his fractured cheekbone.
The in-form midfielder sustained the injury in last week's win over Collingwood and was in some doubt for the important clash with the Eagles, but has been given the all-clear for the MCG meeting as the Tigers attempt to stay unbeaten.
"He'll play. He's a tough lad as we know, he played three-and-a-half quarters with the same injury last week and he's got the tick from the surgeon to play," coach Damien Hardwick said on Thursday.
"We're happy for Dustin to play and hopefully he plays a pivotal role in the game come Saturday."
Martin, who is averaging 29 disposals in the first two weeks and has also booted six goals in a dominant start to the season, was photographed earlier this week sporting a helmet.
He trained on Thursday morning at Punt Road without the headpiece, and Hardwick said it was yet to be decided whether Martin will need one against the Eagles.
"I'll probably leave that to Dustin and the doctor to figure out. As you can imagine I don't think Dustin is too keen for the helmet but they'll have the conversation at some stage," he said.
"It's like anything, there's always a chance [he could worsen the injury by playing], but the fact of the matter is, from our point of view, the surgeon has given him the all clear to play. We're pretty happy with that."
Martin spent the weekend in New Zealand visiting his father Shane, with some querying whether the travel had hindered his recovery from the cheekbone issue.
But Hardwick said the club was supportive of its out-of-contract midfielder heading overseas.
"Our doctor knew at that stage there was a chance it was a fracture, but it wasn't displaced. It was really important for Dustin to go home. His father has been really critical in the support of Dustin, between him and (Martin's manager) Ralph Carr, have been pivotal in the way Dustin's gone about his footy," he said.
"We thought it was a good decision for Dustin to go and we'd do the same thing again."
The Tigers will make at least two changes to their side, with Ben Griffiths (concussion) and Shane Edwards (hip) sidelined.
Richmond has until 2pm on Thursday to upgrade a rookie to replace Griffiths, with Mabior Chol and Ivan Soldo in the mix to be elevated. Chol suffered a head knock in last week's VFL clash but trained on Thursday and is available for selection.
Jack Riewoldt said on RSN "it's extremely scary" for Griffiths, who has had more than five concussions through his career.
Hardwick said at this stage the key forward had been ruled out for at least this week's game, but there was no timeline on his return.
"He hasn't finished his concussion protocol yet so we'll see how that goes," the coach said.
"We're concerned any time a player get a concussion … Ben's had a few over his career so it is obviously concerning any time a player goes down, especially with previous history.
"We're very, very confident in our medical staff they'll do the best thing for Ben and Ben's longevity in this game."
