3 minute read

Richmond are facing the prospect of being without captain Trent Cotchin and midfielder Dion Prestia for their blockbuster AFL clash with Port Adelaide.

Richmond's shock AFL defeat to Sydney has been compounded by fresh injury concerns, headlined by captain Trent Cotchin and star midfielder Dion Prestia.

The reigning premiers were blown off the MCG by the youthful Swans on Saturday, with coach Damien Hardwick admitting the 45-point margin flattered his team.

Prestia will miss a "number of weeks" after injuring his hamstring in the opening quarter and being subbed off for Daniel Rioli.

Triple premiership captain Cotchin was well below his best and finished the match with ice strapped to his hamstring and groin areas.

Hardwick claimed that move was precautionary but conceded Cotchin would be in some doubt to play against Port Adelaide on Friday night.

"(Cotchin's) had injury history over the last number of years," Hardwick said.

"We just iced him up and off he went so we'll assess that during the week.

"(We've got) back-to-back six-day breaks so we'll make a decision about whether he goes to Adelaide and figure it out from there."

Hardworking utility Kamdyn McIntosh was also assisted off the ground in the last quarter after being dazed in a collision with Swans defender Dane Rampe.

"He's lucky. It looked horrible, to be fair, and I'm glad he's walking around at this stage," Hardwick said.

The bad news just kept on coming, with Hardwick confirming star defender Nick Vlastuin will miss at least another month after undergoing another scan on his injured knee.

Vlastuin was subbed off in the Tigers' round-one win against Carlton and has been absent since.

Hardwick was full of praise for the 3-0 Swans, less than a year after slamming their game style in a post-match press conference.

"We didn't play our way but that's because the opposition did things so well," he said.

"They were incredible in all facets of the game, they just comprehensively beat us.

"The score flattered us and it felt like a 10-goal loss.

"I reckon we have one of them (a bad performance like that) a year but we look at everything as a gift.

"We'll go to work. We get a better result, not necessarily next week or the week after, but it will come."