Richmond may have suffered another significant blow to their stuttering AFL premiership defence after Shane Edwards limped off with an apparent ankle injury late in the 63-point thrashing from Geelong.
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The Tigers were left licking their wounds after a comprehensive 19.12 (126) to 9.9 (63) defeat on Friday night that saw them slip to 4-4 after eight rounds.
They entered the contest without a host of flag winners as key defender Dylan Grimes (concussion) and star midfield trio Trent Cotchin (hamstring), Dion Prestia and Kane Lambert (both calf) watched from the sidelines.
Edwards was hurt during the final quarter against Geelong when the result was well beyond doubt and the All-Australian midfielder's possible absence could further test the Tigers' depth when they host Greater Western Sydney in round nine.
"I'm not too sure (how bad Edwards' injury is) ... but there will be some form of doubt over next week at this stage," Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said.
The Tigers led Geelong by 18 points at quarter-time but fell apart during the third term and conceded 13 goals to two after the main break in their heaviest defeat of the season so far.
"We've got some quality players out but we still expect to be better than what we were in that second half," Hardwick said.
"There's a way to lose and we don't like to lose the way we did.
"The way we got belted around the contest in the second part of the game was incredibly disappointing."
Richmond have overcome slow starts to win the premiership in three of the last four seasons and are now facing a similar hurdle this time around.
But Hardwick feels they are still in the hunt to complete a hat-trick of flags despite the Geelong defeat and significant injury toll.
"I think this year's going to be pretty open," Hardwick said.
"It's similar (to previous years), but we've got to play better.
"We've got some players that we'd love to have back in the side but they're not going to be back for some time.
"We've got to hang tough, but that's what we do."
Grimes is a chance to return against GWS, while Dustin Martin (concussion) and Nick Vlastuin (knee) came back into the side on Friday night.
Martin served a mandatory week out because of concussion and started well against Geelong but was subdued in the second half under the watch of Tom Stewart.
Australian Associated Press
