Richmond have opted to rest Dustin Martin for their trip to Adelaide, paving the way for the superstar to play his 300th game at the MCG.
It was an easy decision for injury-hit Richmond, who face the Crows at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday after a five-day break.
Martin was ill on Tuesday and did not attend the Tigers’ main training session at Punt Rd.
The 32-year-old will become the seventh Richmond player to bring up 300 games when he runs out against Hawthorn at the MCG on June 15.
“He’s a bit crook,” Richmond coach Adem Yze said of Martin.
“It was always going to be based on how he got through [training].
“Whether he trained or not, there [still] would have been a big question mark on him.
“The silver lining to that is the fact that he will get to play his 300th in front of our home crowd against the Hawks next week.
“We’re disappointed that he’s not available for this week, but for our supporters and our Tiger army, they’ll get to see him — which will be great.”
In a major boost for Richmond, reigning Jack Dyer medallist Tim Taranto is shaping as a genuine chance to return from a broken wrist.
The star midfielder has been missing since round five after injuring himself at training.
“[Taranto] had a big session on Saturday, got through that, so we feel like he’s ready to go,” Yze said.
Dion Prestia will be back to face the Crows after the injury-prone midfielder was rested for last Saturday night’s loss against Geelong.
But dual premiership utility Marlion Pickett will miss at least the next two weeks after suffering a calf injury against the Cats.
When leaving the field after being subbed out, Pickett raised his middle finger at a section of the Kardinia Park crowd.
The 32-year-old is also awaiting the outcome of a court case over allegations surrounding a series of commercial burglaries in Western Australia.
“It’s a tough situation,” Yze said.
“He’s hurt himself, he’s copping abuse from the crowd — and he has copped a little bit the last few weeks from the crowd based on what’s happening off-field with him.
“[The incident at Geelong] is not the way that we want him to respond, but we can understand the reasons why.”
Yze said none of the abuse had crossed a line and he was proud of how Pickett was handling the situation.
“He enjoys getting to training and that’s looking after itself … the process is bubbling along in the background, but you wouldn’t notice that when he comes to training,” Yze said.
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Source: AFL NEWS ABC
