AFL: Follow the latest off-season injury news and updates

Sydney Stack returned to pre-season training with a new hairdo and neck ink. But the Tigers didn’t mince words when discussing what’s required to be an AFL player.

MELBOURNE. 29/11/2021. Richmond AFL training at Punt Road Oval. Dion Prestia back at training after recovering from Covid … Photo by Michael Klein.

Richmond’s stars including Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin, Shane Edwards and Dion Prestia returned to official pre-season training at Punt Road determined to right the wrongs of a disappointing 2021 season.

But many of the players have been at the club running for 13-15 weeks given a barren September, with the club’s pre-season likely to double last year’s truncated summer in volume and number of sessions.

Elite performance manager Peter Burge provides an exclusive insight into the club’s summer progress.

Sydney Stack, who finished the season in a blaze of positivity

“Stacky is still learning the caper. He has got some work to do with consistency of preparation. I am not going to mince my words there, he has still got a bit of work to do. He is a young player learning about his preparation, he has fantastic traits in his explosiveness and he’s highly skilled, but he needs to work really hard on his conditioning.”

Sydney Stack returns to Punt Rd with a new hairdo and neck ink. Picture: Michael Klein

Newly re-signed ruckman Ivan Soldo

“Ivan Soldo did some drills in the last week of the season (after an ACL tear) before it wrapped up and he had a little arthroscope over the pre-season after some swelling in his knee. He is back doing a bit and he will be in full training in the new year.”

Star goalkicker Tom Lynch

“Tom just had a little arthroscope last season mid-year and his knee was pretty good for the rest of the year. He has been here training regularly. He wants to prepare well and bounce back like the whole team. The attitude here is that we know we need to prepare well for next year so we will give a good account of ourselves.”

Dion Prestia, who played only nine games after repeated calf and hamstring issues

“Dion had a really interrupted year and it was frustrating for us and him. In the last 13 weeks he’s been in here training nearly every single day and he had a fantastic base until he got Covid the other week. But he was back today. He is giving himself every possible chance. Sometimes players just get in a cycle where one soft tissue injury leads to another but we learnt a bit we can put into action this year.”

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Dion Prestia was hampered by injury in 2021. Picture: Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Noah Balta, who dodged an ACL tear but had a season-ending syndesmosis strain

“Noah was close to playing at the end of the season and then we lost and couldn’t play finals. It’s a really important pre-season for Noah to get right. He is so athletic and dynamic given his ability to jump and accelerate with his size is unique so there is definitely an exciting package there.”

The impact of new assistant David Teague

“David brings some new experience and he’s been fantastic already along with our established assistant coaches. He has great experience at West Coast, Adelaide and Carlton and it reminds me of when Blake Caracella started and when Truck (Ben Rutten) came in, they just bring new ideas and new perspective so it’s been really refreshing and good for all of us.”

HOW KIDNEY BLOW CAN MAKE DUSTY A 400-GAMER

Richmond believes Dustin Martin’s enforced absence late in the season could help extend his career well into his 30s despite a kidney issue that will keep him from full contact training until late January.

Coach Damien Hardwick is on the way back from an American research trip but will have to quarantine for three days under new provisions before returning to Punt Road ahead of Monday’s return for senior players.

Dustin Martin is back in action, but he is out of contact training until January. Picture: Michael Klein

Burge told the Herald Sun Martin was in excellent shape considering the severity of his lacerated kidney in Round 18.

Martin is understood to have lost well in excess of 10kg but Burge said he was exactly where he needed to be and gradually returning to closer to his normal playing weight.

He will progress from running drills to non-contact training to full contact training by late January, but according to Burge is content with his condition.

On his total weight loss, Burge was deliberately vague: “I will say it’s more than 10kg. It wasn’t 20kg, if I can say that. But he’s back pretty close to his playing weight”.

Chatter in Sydney about how Martin might one day want to play in the Harbour City has been discounted by his club and management but Burge sees the silver lining in Martin’s injury after turning 30 in June.

“Dusty will go through a staged process before he gets back to full training. He was running today and it’s really good to see him conditioning and running and he’s happy, which is the main thing,” he said.

Could the extended break help extend his career? Picture: Michael Klein.

“He won’t be in contact before Christmas and he will be kicking and marking and conditioning for another couple of weeks and then post-Christmas he will start non-contact training again and then towards the end of January we will be introducing contact based on specialist advice.

“He is so professional now in his approach to preparation, I have no concerns about Dusty and where he will get to and his body. 12 months go we were talking about how many games he had played in a row and suddenly he’s had a major injury and it was a forced break from the game. I think it can extend the back end of his career by giving his body a chance to recover so he can re-set and go again.“

Martin has three more seasons left on his current deal of just over $1.2 million a season, but after 260 career games with three premierships and three Norm Smith Medals, he should set himself for 400 total games.

“He’s unique and I haven’t seen too many like him in my involvement in footy,” Burge said.

“He is close to the top but what’s important is his preparation. Each year he adds something to his repertoire and when you think about longevity, he is thinking: How can I maintain this level and play this game for as long as I possibly can. He loves footy and he loves playing for Richmond and with his teammates.”