DOUBTS around the fitness of Richmond duo Daniel Rioli and Nick Vlastuin added more misery to the Tigers' Saturday night 47-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Rioli was limited to 66 per cent game time, the lowest on the ground, after hurting his left thigh in a bruising collision with Lachie Young in the opening term.
He's no certainty to face Fremantle next Sunday at Optus Stadium, with Richmond coach Damien Hardwick revealing the brilliant forward was in pain after seeing the match out.
BULLDOGS FIND THEIR BITE Full match coverage and stats
"He's bruised and battered at the moment. We needed him to keep playing, and to his credit he put his hand up to play, but he's pretty sore," Hardwick said.
Vlastuin hurt an ankle in an injury similar to fellow defender David Astbury's in the Anzac Day Eve win over Melbourne.
"It's probably similar to Dave's last week. He did finish the game but it's one of those ones, he's put a lot of weight through it," Hardwick said.
WHO MAKES FINALS? Do the 2019 Ladder Predictor
"He's probable at this stage. We'll wait and see."
Astbury should be right to resume from his left ankle complaint.
"We presume so. It was one of those ankles that looks severe. It was severe and we thought he may have been a chance of getting up, but it's one of those ones, it probably dags a little bit if we play him (against the Dogs)," Hardwick said.
The Tigers endured a wretched night, looking flat despite having won three straight coming into the contest.
Like a Balta lightning! ⚡️#AFLDogsTigers pic.twitter.com/ZCVqVihDei
— AFL (@AFL) May 4, 2019
Spearhead Tom Lynch was kept goalless by Jackson Trengove and the premiership coach indicated the former Gold Coast co-captain's relationship with his new teammates needed developing.
"We probably didn't help him out with our delivery inside-50 tonight. He was probably open a couple of times, we just didn't quite hit the kick. There's two I can think of straight away where we should have actually directed the ball to Tom, but we were either too slow or didn't see him," Hardwick said.
"It does take a player moving from a club a little bit of time.
"We've seen it before with Dion (Prestia) and Josh (Caddy). It probably takes seven or eight weeks for them to get some momentum.
"I know he had some success early, but we expect that to jell a little bit better over time."
First goal in the #AFL for Jack Ross! #AFLDogsTigers pic.twitter.com/LzFKK32VTg
— AFL (@AFL) May 4, 2019
Asked whether having inconsistent personnel around him made that harder, the coach considered the proposition before revealing his frustration by banging on the table.
"I wouldn't mind some consistency. A bit of luck along the way would be nice," Hardwick said.