THERE'S mixed news out of Punt Road with Richmond spearhead Jack Riewoldt a definite inclusion for Wednesday's Anzac Day Eve clash with Melbourne, but captain Trent Cotchin has suffered a setback with his hamstring injury.
Riewoldt has missed the past three weeks with a wrist complaint, but coach Damien Hardwick confirmed he will take to the MCG.
"According to him, he is [a certainty]," Hardwick said with a grin.
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"He'll play. He's looking really good, he was close last week and I had to keep him out of my office for that time, but he's done everything, he's ahead of schedule.
"So once again, is he going to be 100 per cent [fit when he plays]? He's going to be pretty close."
The skipper's return from a hamstring strain, however, will be pushed to at least round eight against Fremantle.
"Unfortunately, Trent hasn't responded the way we would have liked," Hardwick said.
"He's probably a little bit further away than we would have liked. We probably envisaged he would have played next week (against the Western Bulldogs), but that's not going to be the case now.
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"He'll go through a little bit more rehab to get him back where he needs to be. It's a little bit disappointing, he was at full speed pretty much, it just hasn't responded the way we would have liked. We'll pull him back a little bit and see how it goes from there."
Hardwick confirmed exciting runners Dan Rioli (corked thigh) and Sydney Stack, who suffered a heavy knock against Sydney, were fit for selection despite the tight turnaround.
"We'll train today and we'll get a better indication when training finishes, but my indication is both those guys will be available to play," he said.
Star recruit Tom Lynch is unlikely to be rested despite the quick break and his limited pre-season due to a knee injury.
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"If there was a week we thought about it, it was probably this week. He pulled up remarkably well from the game," Hardwick said.
Richmond completed a very light training run on Tuesday morning with a squad of 28.
All 22 who played against Sydney took part in the low intensity full-ground drill and then individual skill work.
Additions to the squad were Riewoldt, small forward Dan Butler, midfielder/flankers Jack Graham and Connor Menadue, key back Ryan Garthwaite and ruckman Ivan Soldo.
Hardwick said the short break was not an issue.
"It's fine. You have to remember these guys used to play local footy, then school footy then back to local footy [in the space of a week]," he said.
"It's AFL standard, but the reality is these guys are used to that. They've challenged themselves throughout their careers and people make a big deal of the four-day break, but the reality is, it's once in a blue moon."
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