Richmond star Brett Deledio trained well on Tuesday, raising the Tigers' hopes that he will return for Saturday's must-win AFL match against North Melbourne.
The utility has been out of action since round one because of a calf muscle injury.
Deledio said he is probably not ready for a full game, but hopes he will pull up well enough from a solid training session to return to the senior team.
"I felt good ... I just have to wait and see," Deledio told the club website.
"If I pull up really well, then 100 per cent I will put my hand up.
"I probably wouldn't play a full game, but whether that means a (subs) vest one way or the other ... I'm happy with that."
Deledio's return would be timely, given Richmond's patchy form and a tough schedule over the next five weeks.
They are 2-3 and coming off successive losses to Melbourne and Geelong.
After the match against the Kangaroos in Hobart, Richmond play Collingwood, Port Adelaide away, the big Dreamtime at the 'G match against Essendon and Fremantle away before the round-11 bye.
Ruckman Ivan Maric said one of their big problems so far this season had been not taking enough risks during games.
"You can't let the fear infect your mind and the way you play," he said.
"As soon as you second-guess yourself, the game is too quick.
"We need to just take it on, not think about the consequences.
"It's something we've spoken about - playing a bit safe, maybe, instead of just taking them on and not worrying about mistakes."
Maric said expectations about this season should not affect the players.
As most do in the AFL, Maric pointed to Hawthorn as the benchmarks.
"We want to be able to just rock up every week and play our way," he said.
"You look at teams like Hawthorn - they go through a bit of adversity against Port Adelaide in the first quarter and they just keep coming back.
"That's what we want to be like, we don't want to rely on whether we're underdogs or favourites."
Share
