Riewoldt suffered a cut to his eye in training last week which required surgery, ruling him out of their clash with the Gold Coast on Saturday.

He was close to returning this week, but two doctors advised him his injury was too serious to make his comeback on the weekend.

However, Riewoldt was so desperate to play he was ready to go out and see a third doctor to get the answer he wanted to hear.

“A couple more days and some training and he might have been available to play, but it’s one of those ones where it’s a pretty delicate area of the body we really wanted to make sure we look after,” Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said on Friday.

“He not only went to one doctor, he went to two and then he was looking for a third to try and get the response he was after — that’s how desperate he was to play.

“He’s an important player for us and we didn’t want to risk any further damage. He should be available to play next week.”