Krakouer suffers injury
Samantha Lane
afl.com.au
4:03:47 PM Fri 14 February, 2003
Richmond has suffered a setback in the last two minutes of its first full intra-club match this year, with young forward Andrew Krakouer injuring a thigh.
Krakouer had been prominent in the 20-minute quarters at the Whitten Oval on Friday, but was carried from the field after a front-on collision in his forward line.
The developing 20 year-old initially looked to have injured his right ankle, but club officials later said he had corked his thigh and would be available for the Tigers' Wizard Cup match against Melbourne next Friday, 21 February.
Former Adelaide midfielder Kane Johnson was impressive, kicking three goals in the first three quarters and collecting numerous possessions.
"Kane looks like he's going to slot into our midfield quite comfortably," coach Danny Frawley said after the match.
"He got some quality touches. I thought he and (Mark) Coughlan worked into the game a little bit after quarter time."
We've probably had a bit of a struggle kicking goals from the midfield. It's something we've concentrated on in the pre-season, trying to share the load through the midfield a little bit."
"If we can get our midfield all chipping in with one or two (goals) it will be great."
Frawley utilised the ultimate ruck-forward combination for the "blacks", rotating Brad Ottens and Greg Stafford in the ruck and using Matthew Richardson, David Rodan and Krakouer on the forward line.
A fit looking Rodan was another standout, looking sharp with his hands and moving in and out of packs with his usual zip.
"They contested the ball unconditionally I thought, which was good. You're not going to go too hard at the man because they're your teammates, but I think they went really hard at the ball which was a bonus," Frawley said.
"I thought it was pretty scrappy early, which is probably a good sign. It just means they're having a crack at the ball and there were a lot of stoppages. It wasn't too free-flowing, but their style wasn't too bad, there are just a few areas we need to work on."
Darren Gaspar, Wayne Campbell, Justin Blumfield, Marc Dragicevic, Ray Hall and Ben Holland were the notable absentees. Campbell has been on a modified program during the off-season but will increase to full training this week, while Blumfield is recovering from osteitis pubis.
"We're probably two weeks away from probably having everyone available other than Ben Holland I would have thought," Frawley said.
Holland damaged his knee in round four last season, and has not played since.
