Richmond forward/midfielder, Chris Knights, has spoken of the anguish associated with his season-ending knee injury in an exclusive ‘Roar Vision’ interview with Tiger great Matthew Richardson.

Knights described how he damaged the patella tendon in his right knee during Richmond’s Round 7 victory over Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium, and outlined what lies ahead of him on the comeback trail . . .

“I kicked the ball, there was horrific pain, and then my leg just collapsed underneath me,” he said.

“For some reason, I knew what I’d done straight away.  Then, it seemed like two seconds and the ‘doc’ was there, the trainers were around me and, all of a sudden, the stretcher was there and the pain went away.

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“I was thankful for that because I was able to come back out and watch the rest of the game.  But it was a bit of a shock.

“I’d asked the doc and he was positive that I’d taken the tendon off the bone, so that would have been the season.

“I had Rhett Biglands, who was a former teammate of mine, come sit right next to me down on the bench, trying to get the insight for Triple M, and I saw the cameras often just pan in.

“So, it was one of those periods where you try to hold it together, but it’s not a nice experience.”

Knights, who joined Richmond from Adelaide last October as a free agent, is now making good progress after undergoing knee surgery a couple of weeks ago.

“It’s going really well so far.  I caught up with the surgeon on Monday and he’s really happy with how it’s all looking,” Knights said.

“The surgeon said unlike an ACL, once the tendon’s fixed back to the bone, it’s not one of those things where you worry about doing it again, or your other knee going.  He said it was quite rare that it happened in the first place, but it’ll heal really strongly and I should be fine after that . . .

“I was able to hand the crutches in and I hopped into a brace that allows me to move a bit.  So I’m able to walk and drive, which is good because now I can come into the footy club and see the boys and start doing a little bit of rehab.

“So there’s a bit of a silver lining for me, but it’s been a terrible two weeks, to be honest . . .”

The timing of the long-term injury is what frustrates Knights most.  He’d just started to hit his straps in the Tigers’ line-up, when cruel fate intervened.

“I think that’s the most disappointing thing.  It took me a while to get some fitness up this pre-season, and I was quite happy with how my form was going,” he said.

“You know what it’s like around footy clubs – you need to earn respect through your performance, and I felt that I was contributing to the team.

“So, for that to happen, it was a bit of a shock and disappointing.  But the good thing about this footy club is that I’ve been really well embraced.  The boys got around me and they’ve offered a few things for me to do during the season, so that I can stay involved with the team . . .

“I play a bit of a mentoring role with a few of the boys, so I’d like to continue that role and help out down at Coburg, where I can.

“Danny (Daly) said there are a few things I can assist with in the midfield and maybe on game day in the box.

“That’s really exciting for me.  It’s not something that I thought I’d ever be interested in, but now that I’m injured, I’m actually quite excited about the other role in football.

“If I can help out with training and different bits and pieces – maybe some opposition analysis – I’ll try to keep involved any way that I can.”