Tigers' ‘mindful' approach with recovering star

Perth Now

15-05-2025

Richmond will consider easing premiership midfielder Dion Prestia through the VFL as he slowly returns from another soft-tissue setback.
Prestia, 32, is yet to play a game this season due to a troubling achilles injury he sustained during the pre-season.
The three-time premiership Tiger's delayed start to the season follows an injury-plagued 2024.
Richmond coach Adem Yze says it will take an extra caution with Prestia after paying the ultimate price for rushing him back last year.
'We'll have that discussion now that he's getting closer to playing, (VFL) probably will be the plan, he will hate me saying it,' Yze said.
'With our fitness staff and our high-performance team, we've got to be really cautious with what happened last year.
'I don't think he played any VFL games last year and we got the result we got, if it means he needs half a game at VFL level well then we'll do that.
'We need a fit Dion at AFL level and we've got to be really mindful that he's such an important player and such a great leader for us out there.
'When he comes back we want him out there for the rest of the season, not just in and out, we'll make that decision in the next couple of weeks.' Dion Prestia was one of the first on the track on Thursday. Mark Stewart Credit: News Corp Australia
Prestia is between one and three weeks away while forward Mykelti Lefau is available to play his first game since tearing his ACL last year.
Lefau, who was among a handful of Tigers recovering from ACL injuries, will play a half in the VFL on Sunday.
'He'll play half a game in VFL, which is so exciting and I think the next three or four weeks we've got a few boys coming back,' Yze said.
'Tylar Young is due to play half a game the following week, Mate Colina and a few of our older boys, Samson Ryan, obviously Dion.
'The next three or four weeks we're going to start filtering some of the boys from rehab into the VFL program which is awesome.
'Our fitness staff are doing an amazing job, I think we've got 40 odd players training today which is exactly what we want as a footy club.'
Richmond has an opportunity to secure back-to-back wins for the first time since Round 18 and 19 in 2023 when it faces North Melbourne on Sunday.
Yze says the Tigers aren't looking at the value of successive wins and are instead focusing on how they can produce a consistent, four-quarter performance.
'I think any win is obviously important, back-to-back wins you're thinking about the result not the process,' he said.
'If we end up playing well enough and get another win, that's great, we'll tick that box but as a collective coaching staff and playing group we want to play consistent footy.
'Even on the weekend we didn't play four quarters of footy and the middle part of the game wasn't good enough, we're striving for consistency.
'Whether that provides wins, that's great.'