http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/r ... 42853.html
HAVING allowed the pain of knee tendonitis to settle, Nick Riewoldt will play his first game of the year in tomorrow night's pre-season cup semi-final.
The Saints will introduce a clutch of current and recent captains for the game, with Riewoldt joined by Lenny Hayes and Luke Ball in the squad for the side to take on Essendon.
Essendon has been either less fortunate or more cautious with its team, leaving captain Matthew Lloyd and key defender Dustin Fletcher out of the match, compounding the difficulties the club faces with the Riewoldt return.
Riewoldt has battled knee tendonitis throughout the summer, a problem that he is able to manage doing most things but which causes him pain when kicking long. Rest from this sort of kicking has helped calm the injury.
The Saints have also brought ruckman Michael Gardiner into the side after he missed the last match due to soreness. Previously, he had performed well when playing in tandem with recruit Steven King.
Essendon's Lloyd is still battling a hamstring problem while Fletcher is struggling with knee soreness.
"It would be good to get some game time into Dustin and Matthew before the season starts and that's probably a bit of a concern that they haven't had much game time," Knights said.
"We think they'll be fine but it would just be nice to have a couple of matches under their belt …
"(Lloyd's) a very good chance for the following week. I'd have thought he'd definitely play barring any interruptions between now and then.
"And I'd thought McPhee would play the week after as well."
Knights said that while he wanted to win the NAB Cup the team would have a heavy training workout tomorrow — in keeping with the training regime for round one.
"We'll have a very solid session tomorrow in our training — there won't be any tapering for Friday evening," he said. "We're still going about business and having a solid session and we'll be focusing on getting our players right from a management point of view for round one.
"We expect the players to be going at top end speed in tomorrow's session and really putting themselves physically through a really good session.
"Whatever happens this week, we will play our strongest possible side the following week — win or lose."
Bomber players from last week's successful side, including Ricky Dyson, Leroy Jetta and Bachar Houli, will be rested from tomorrow night's match after playing the first three pre-season games.
"All up, there's probably seven guys who played last week who won't play this week," Knights said.
Riewoldt likely to be back Fri - The Age
Moderators: Saintsational Administrators, Saintsational Moderators
