Brownlow Medallist Dustin Martin has kicked off contact training and is back to his previous playing weight, more than six months after suffering a kidney injury that brought a premature end to his 2021 season.
Martin suffered a lacerated kidney in a collision with Brisbane’s Mitch Robinson late in the home and away season last year, losing over 10kgs in the aftermath and needing to change his diet.
However, Richmond physical performance manager Peter Burge revealed Martin has returned to the shape that has held him in such good stead in years gone by as he looks to the club's pre-season games next month.
“He’ll be available to play all of those games,” Burge told News Corp.
“He’s back to his usual playing weight but the main thing is his strength and power markers in the gym. That’s what we’re looking at and typically they line up with his weight being around the same it’s been for the last five or six years.
“Everything’s pretty normal with Dustin right now. He has done a lot of hard work. It’s the hard work here but it’s also the work he does outside as well. He’s got some pretty strong routines.”
Burge also provided an update on gun midfielder Dion Prestia, who has missed significant chunks of the past two seasons with soft tissue injuries.
“Last October or November he set out to really get some work into himself so when he came back he was well ahead of everyone else,” Burge added.
“He couldn’t have gone about it any better, to be honest. He had a real determination in his pre-Christmas stuff to give himself every chance and give himself every chance with his work on the track and in the gym as well.
“There’s some things we have altered with his gym program to try and prevent some of the issues he’s had the last year or two. But if you just get some continuity through December and January it really does set you up to play more games.”
Prestia was the Tigers' best and fairest in 2019 and his absence for much of 2021 cruelled the club's hopes of continuing their finals run last year.
However, with their list appearing healthy heading into the new season, the club will be optimistic to return to September action in 2022.