Richmond has confirmed that Jack Riewoldt will undergo surgery to repair a fractured thumb.
The Tigers consider Riewoldt’s injury to be “short term”.
The star forward hurt this thumb in the first quarter of Thursday night’s loss to Carlton.
It further compounds Richmond’s injury woes after midfielder Dion Prestia sustained another hamstring injury against the Blues.
“He (Prestia) will have scans possibly tomorrow. It’s just disappointing, he’s had as good a pre-season as he’s had,” Tigers coach Damien Hardwick told reporters after Thursday night’s game.
“He’s so important to how we play. I feel like he’s barely played for two and a half years. He’s a significant loss, big loss, I just really feel for the kid.
“He’s so important to the way we play, but just the culture of our place as well. He was really disappointed and I’m disappointed for him, we want him on the field, and we want him up and about.
“It’s a challenging stage for him.”
The pair join Nick Vlastuin (hamstring), Kamdyn McIntosh (calf soreness) and Kane Lambert (hip) on the sidelines.
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