St Kilda Coach Alan Richardson says Nick Riewoldt’s latest knee injury is minor and the timing of the bye will provide the champion forward with a couple of weeks to recover.
Riewoldt, 34, has a well-documented history of issues with his troublesome left knee, and hyperextended his other knee in St Kilda’s opening round loss to Melbourne.
After pulling up with bone bruising in his left knee following the game against Sydney, Richardson said the Saints decided to give Riewoldt some extra time off for to allow it to settle down ahead of the second half of the season.
“It really just came down to this week; he bruised his knee on the weekend,” Richardson told reporters at a press conference at Trevor Barker Beach Oval on Friday.
“We were hopeful that he would come up, but it was pretty clear early in the week that he was still a little bit sore so it was more just about this week.
“It’s great timing really, not that ever being injured is good timing really, but the fact that we’ve got the bye he can have a couple of weeks.”
With Riewoldt coming out of the side, the Saints have decided against bringing key forward Josh Bruce straight back in, electing to go with a smaller attack for Saturday’s game against the Western Bulldogs.
“We’re happy with the group we’ve got in front of the ball. It will give us a bit of a different look, a bit more speed and energy given we’re going to be a little smaller and that’s the way we think is the best way to go against the Dogs,” Richardson said.
Richardson said Bruce knows where he sits at the moment and needs to build some form at Sandringham before returning to the senior side.
“Structurally it probably makes a bit of sense (to bring Bruce back in this week), but just his form prior to him going out and then again on the weekend it wasn’t quite where it needed to be,” he said.
“He knows exactly where it sits, so does any player that goes out of our team. We just need 'Brucey' to be in better form. His effort, his energy and his contest is never questioned it’s just his form in terms of finishing his plays.”
