Richmond star Dustin Martin is putting his best foot forward to play in the elimination final against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba, but a young Tiger had an injury scare on Thursday.
Tigers co-captain Toby Nankervis said Martin trained on Thursday and put on his best showing since his hamstring injury forced him to the sidelines earlier in the season.
Dustin Martin trains at Richmond on Thursday.Credit:Getty Images
Nankervis said it was too soon to declare Martin would play against the Lions, but he was giving it his best shot.
“Hopefully yeah,” Nankervis said. “He did a bit of training here today, and we have another session on Saturday, so hopefully he can do a bit more then.
“We will know more next week but, hopefully, he does [play].
“It was probably [the most team training] he has done for a while. He has been doing a mountain of work away from the group, he’s been training really well in the rehab group and having him among the main group gave everyone a big lift and, hopefully, he will do more training in the next couple of days.”
Noah Cumberland is helped off the training track at Richmond.Credit:Getty Images
Martin hasn’t played since he was injured against West Coast in July but Nankervis said the Norm Smith medallist was in great condition.
“He’s in really good shape,” Nankervis said. “He’s been quite frustrated like anyone would be, but he has attacked it as we know he is the great professional.”
Young Tigers forward Noah Cumberland was helped off the training track with a foot or ankle injury during the session on Thursday. Nankervis was optimistic that Cumberland would be able to play at the Gabba next Thursday night, and a club spokesperson said the medical team was confident that the 21-year-old would play and it was not a serious injury.
“I missed the last bit of training, but I spoke to him briefly and I think he should be all right, we will find out more this arvo, but he should be right,” Nankervis said.
The Tigers expect Tom Lynch will be fine to play despite being subbed off with some groin tightness against Essendon last Saturday night, while Jack Graham (toe) remains uncertain as he continued to work away from the team on Thursday.
“Jack is such a competitive warrior, so it would be great to have him out there in the final series but whether it plays next week or not I’m not too sure, but he’ll give himself every chance,” Nankervis said.
“And the deeper we go, the more chance he has got.”
The week off and the prospect of the surging Tigers bringing back Martin for the finals has everyone at Richmond confident they could make a run at the premiership despite finishing outside the top four.
But the Tigers will have to run a gauntlet of premiership contenders if they were to make the grand final, with the winner of their elimination final facing the loser of Sydney and Melbourne, followed by a preliminary final against either Geelong or Collingwood.
“It’s different, but we’ve given ourselves a chance,” Nankervis said.
“I’m very grateful to be playing at this time of year. It’s so hard to get to the finals and give yourself a chance and any team in the eight is a real show, especially this year with the evenness of the competition.
“It’s different to being in the top four, but we’ve got as much chance as anyone.”
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