Second opinion ignored by Jack

WHEN a second opinion fails to give the answer you’re looking for, go out and find a third.

That was the logic of Richmond star Jack Riewoldt, who on Thursday attempted to consult three different eye specialists in his bid to get the all-clear for tomorrow’s clash with Hawthorn at the MCG.

The forward was ruled out of the game late on Thursday after it was deemed the cut to the cornea in his right eye — suffered in a knock at training a week before — that had needed surgery also needed a second week to rest.

He was “pretty close” to playing, coach Damien Hardwick said, having gone on the hunt for a doctor that would tell him what he wanted to hear.

“A couple more days and some training and he might have been available to play, but it’s one of those ones where it’s a pretty delicate area of the body we really wanted to make sure we look after,” he said.

“He not only went to one doctor, he went to two and was looking for a third to try and get the response he was after — that’s how desperate he was.

“He’s an important player for us and we didn’t want to risk any further damage. He should be available to play next week.”

Hardwick said the team can take heart from the fact it managed to get the job done without the key forward last week against the Suns.

“It was a different look — we obviously haven’t had it [a forward line without Riewoldt] for a long time,” he said. “We still managed to have 30 shots on goal — our accuracy wasn’t quite to the level we’d like, but our ability to move the ball inside 50 was good.”

Richmond can also take comfort with the return of

Dion Prestia.

Meanwhile, Hardwick’s star Dustin Martin rocketed into Brownlow Medal favouritism this week after the suspension of reigning champion Patrick Dangerfield, but Hardwick insisted the award is not on his radar.