St Kilda star Nick Riewoldt not only passed a strenuous fitness test at Thursday’s main training session but also pulled up well to book his spot in Sunday’s team, says Saints Coach Alan Richardson.
The 34-year-old veteran is the only confirmed change for the clash against Brisbane at this stage, replacing reigning Trevor Barker Award winner Jack Steven after he suffered a punctured lung in the loss to West Coast last weekend.
“He trained really strongly on Thursday and feels really good,” Richardson told reporters at a press conference on Friday morning.
“We made sure that he did everything that he’s going to be asked to do on game day with respect to contest and jumping, changing direction and all that aggressive lateral movement.
“Not only was he able to perform strongly, but pulled up really impressively. So he’s good to go on Sunday.”
Richardson reflected on the moment late in Round 1 where Riewoldt’s career appeared potentially over at one point, praising the durability of the six-time best and fairest winner who has once again displayed his remarkable resilience.
“We all had our hearts in our mouths there for a while and two weeks later he’s playing. Clearly it wasn’t what we thought at the time, nor what Nick thought,” Richardson said.
“He’s a pretty special person like that. He’s a very durable, resilient guy who for his whole career really has been able to deal with injury and overcome injury and this is another great example of that so we’re rapt to have him back in.”
St Kilda’s first pick in last November’s National Draft, Ben Long, is a chance to debut against the Lions on Sunday, but Richardson wouldn’t confirm his selection just yet.
“He’s in the mix. Unfortunately we don’t play to Sunday so there’s a little bit more work to do,” he said.
“He’ll certainly play some really strong footy for us, whether it’s this week or not we’ll just have to wait and see.
“He’s an exciting player, he’s a contest winner, he makes opportunities out of very little, he likes to put on pressure, he likes to hunt the opposition.”
