ST KILDA captain Nick Riewoldt is ahead of schedule in his recovery from knee surgery and could play before round one of the season proper.
Riewoldt had arthroscopic surgery on his knee two weeks ago and was not expected to take part in the NAB Cup or the NAB Challenge but said his recovery had progressed faster than expected.
“I ran yesterday for the first time post-surgery which is ahead of schedule. I’m tracking pretty well and I’ll hopefully get one or two games in before the season starts,” Riewoldt said on Friday in Queensland.
Speaking ahead of his club’s NAB Cup opener against the Brisbane Lions at Gold Coast Stadium on Saturday night, the four-time club best and fairest said he was now looking at playing in the third week of the pre-season.
“Providing that everything goes smoothly I’ll be joining in and will continue to progress my running over the next week and join in some integrated skill work over the next two weeks with a view to play probably NAB Cup [in] week three,”
Riewoldt said he had experienced some minor soreness in January before deciding to go under the knife.
“I battled my way through last year with it. I did the medial [ligament] and have had a bit of cartilage problem,” he said.
“I had a tidy up at the end of the season and needed another go post-Christmas.
“We had to make the decision to get it done then and there or try to manage it through the year but we had two months until the start of the season and at the time surgery was the best option.”
Speaking at his alma mater All Saints Anglican School in Merrimac where the sporting oval has just been named after him, Riewoldt said the latest surgery should put an end to his lingering knee problems.
“It’s nothing really that I have to worry about long-term. It’s not that scenario (bone on bone), it was just a bit of a cyst that had formed on the outside and some joint fluid was escaping,” he said.
The 26-year-old said teammate Justin Koschitzke should be overcome an injury scare and play against the Brisbane Lions in Saturday’s NAB Cup clash.
Koschitzke hobbled off the ground at training on Thursday morning with an apparent ankle injury but Riewoldt said he had done no damage.
“He’s trained all pre-season and just had a slight hiccup yesterday. It’s nothing too serious and he should be right to play.”
Riewoldt was also interested to see how a debutant coach Michael Voss would fare in his first match in charge of the Lions.
"I think Vossy is a guy that would certainly have his own style and he'll do his own way," he said.
"He's a terrific ambassador for the game up here and it's great and exciting for Michael to be coaching the Lions."
