Richmond utility Chris Knights will make his long-awaited return to senior football, in the VFL this weekend, after an arduous recovery from a knee injury.
Knights has spent the best part of 14 months in and out of the rehab room at the ME Bank Centre, as he battled to get over a raft of knee issues which were stalling his ability to get back to full fitness.
The 26-year-old broke down in Round 7 last year with a patella tendon injury, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.
After a promising pre-season, he was on track to be available for the start of the Tigers’ 2014 campaign, but suffered a setback in the Club’s practice match against Essendon in March.
Frustration grew as Knights returned to rehab, until a risky decision to have further surgery on the knee six weeks ago paid dividends.
"There were a couple of options on the table and [the doctor] said, 'If we go down this path it could be the end of your season'," Knights told richmondfc.com.au.
"At the end of the day I couldn't just be waiting for my knee to get better and really training under duress.
"I said, 'Whatever I do from here on it has to be an aggressive decision', and it turned out after the surgery I was able to walk out of there and it felt really comfortable.
"I'm really glad I went down that path."
Barring any setbacks at training this week, Knights will run out with the Tigers’ VFL team on Saturday night against Geelong at Simmonds Stadium.
In other injury news from Tigerland, Matt Thomas and Nick Vlastuin are a chance to be available for this Sunday’s game against Port Adelaide, after both missed last weekend’s match.
Thomas was a late withdrawal with Achilles soreness, while Vlastuin missed the match with a corked thigh.
The pair will need to complete training this week to be considered for selection.
And midfielder Shaun Grigg is expected to miss one more match with a hamstring injury.
Richmond injury list – at July 7, 2014
Chris Knights (Knee) Available
Matt Thomas (Achilles) Test
Nick Vlastuin (Corked thigh) Test
Shaun Grigg (Hamstring) 1 week
Kamdyn McIntosh (Foot) 1-2 weeks
Jake King (Foot) 2-3 weeks
David Astbury (Knee) TBC
