Hamstring tendonitis stopped the 2003 Brownlow Medallist from appearing in any of the Crows’ pre-season games but Ricciuto’s confidence has grown after completing four full sessions on the training track this week.
“Yeah, I’m feeling great at the moment,” Ricciuto said. “A couple of weeks ago I probably wasn’t sure if I would come up or not but certainly over the last two weeks it has really come along .
“I’m fit and I’m ready to play in the midfield or up forward or down back or wherever .. pretty much similar to what I usually do. I was definitely the fittest I’ve been in January before I had the (groin) operation. There was only really 10 days where I couldn’t do any training while I was out. I’ve done a lot of work on the bike and on the treadmill and in the pool so I don’t believe I’ve lost hardly any fitness at all.
“It’s a bit of a frustrating injury, tendonitis, it’s not like you know you are going to be out for two or three. It can get better or worse pretty quickly. Basically all I did was do everything I could with the treatment and certainly had a lot of support from the doctors and physios at the club, they were fantastic really.”
But Ricciuto is not expecting a lighter workload in the Collingwood match.
“I don’t think you can afford to be eased into it any more,” he said. “There’s not much room for any slackness out there so I’ll play in the midfield and do my usual bit and probably have a few spells on the bench and may be up forward.”
Midfielder Michael Doughty will travel to Melbourne at the emergency. The two other emergencies are Kris Massie and Ivan Maric, who played in the SANFL this weekend.
