Richmond star forward Jack Riewoldt will make his highly-anticipated AFL return against Greater Western Sydney at the MCG on Sunday.
Riewoldt has missed the past nine games with a knee injury. He was sidelined in round six after injuring his posterior cruciate ligament.
"Yes, I'm good to go. I can't wait, I'm really excited," Riewoldt told AFL 360 on Tuesday night.
"I've got to train tomorrow and Friday but I probably missed last weekend by one session.
"I don't think I'll get back to 100 per cent for a while; there's still an element of rehab but I've got to a point where I feel comfortable and the medical staff feel comfortable for me to go out and play.
"There's always a chance you go out and re-injure yourself as there is with any injury, but in terms of being fit to play I'm right to go."
Riewoldt returns in time for the sixth-placed Tigers' run into finals, a stretch of seven games all played at the MCG.
Gold Coast recruit Tom Lynch has spearheaded the Richmond forward line in Riewoldt's absence and the latter admits they'll have to fast track their combination in time for finals.
"Getting injured was really disappointing because out on the ground had a vibe we were really starting to work together well," Riewoldt said of Lynch.
"I think I'll take a bit of a back seat this week, he's been playing more so I think I'll try to work around him early on to feel my way out ... but I still want to find the football.
"We have to fast track the gel, and not only with Lynchy."
Richmond are on the same number of wins as they were at this point in 2017, when they went on to claim a drought-breaking premiership.
But Riewoldt warned against making comparisons.
"You have to be very careful drawing on past history because every season is very different and we're not comfortable with where we're at," Riewoldt said.
"There are some games we thought were winnable and have dropped.
"Our journey has been completely different to 2017, we 've played 38 players on our list which is an outstanding number.
"We've had more than a few injuries but we've unearthed some guys we're really excited about so for us it's been really good.
"We've found guys we know will be good players into the future and we've still been able to win and put ourselves in a decent position."
Australian Associated Press
