Player Watch #23: Kane Lambert - Retired effective immediately

[Wallaby]

I really hope you blokes are over-dramatising this and he's not that crook (hoping, hoping), but it doesn't sound great.

The thing is, Lambo is/was our best runner - he was so critical to our 'forward surge', 'forward handball' game - he was always there in support. You watch so many of our highlights from the 3-in-4, and Lambo is always in the frame, offering an option, making space, taking a defender - even if he didn't actually get the ball, he was always part of the wave.

And - when he did get a shot for goal, he nailed it. When he needed to go, he went.
Fabulous player.

 

[TigerImposter]

Said after his second game we needed to wrap him up in cotton wool as he was a very important cog in our midfield. TT mentioned him as the medisub, but I think just minmum minutes during games depending on the scoreboard with proper management and resting him for dead rubber games.

 

[Punt Road Feral]

Thankfully for Lambo he has an amazing women by his side to help him through those cold winter nights. She's brains, beauty and from what I can tell on CH 7 a beautiful soul.

Not that I read the trash rags but is this keep on the downlow.
They seem like their relationship is well and truly out of spotlight (which isn’t a bad thing).

I’m just comparing to someone like Bec Judd who was in a similar role and couldn’t keep herself out of the media.

 

[Mr Unbelievable]

Pray 4 Kane

 

[rfctigerarmy]

If he has ongoing issues, he'd be a great medi-sub for the remainder of the year.

 

[Charlie Pannam]

Love what this guy does for the club, is selfless. Just hope he isn’t hobbling around like an old man By the age of 50.

 

[SleepingGiant]

If he has ongoing issues, he'd be a great medi-sub for the remainder of the year.

Disagree. Endurance athlete and better running the game out. Want a power athlete as the medi-sub.

 

[rfctigerarmy]

Disagree. Endurance athlete and better running the game out. Want a power athlete as the medi-sub.

If he has a debilatating injury, which is due to endurance / wear and tear, why would you prescribe further endurance related exercise to him?

 

[SleepingGiant]

If he has a debilatating injury, which is due to endurance / wear and tear, why would you prescribe further endurance related exercise to him?

Because he is otherwise more ineffective in his sub role due to his strength being his ability to outlast the opposition. Needs to be managed throughout the year to play full games and rest against inferior opposition.

 

[Drunken Wookie]

Hopefully we've learnt the lesson with ex-players coming back and demanding compensation and after Kane hangs up the guns we get him all the medical help he needs to live a full life after footy.

 

[RJK Tiger]

I find it ridiculous that the club let him put himself through immense pain and career & future wellbeing risking harm just to play games against West Coast, Collingwood, Hawthorn & Essendon - 4 shleps.

If we were going to risk this guys career, income & physical well being to play games, surely you would have done that against teams where he was completely needed. If we can't beat those teams without Kane Lambert

23

Kane Lambert

Age

32

Ht

178cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.7

5star

K

9.5

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

3.7

4star

T

3.5

5star

G

0.6

4star

D

17.3

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

9.6

5star

M

3.4

3star

T

3.1

4star

G

0.5

4star

D

10.6

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

4.6

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.2

3star

, then the team was always ****ed.

Personally, i would not have played him if that was even a tiny chance of being the final cost. Feels like not many decisions are being made to think beyond our final chance "at glory". Very much has a "* it" feel to it

Effectively we could lose Lambert, Riewoldt, Cotchin, Edwards & Dusty by the end of the year.

 

[SunshineBoy]

Ok he is done, a hip replacement isn’t the end of life, sure he won’t be playing footy but he can do other stuff , been a great servant and a great clubman, get him the medical service he needs and thank him for the memories.

 

[Daka]

If he's body is stuffed the club has a duty of care to protect him from himself.

 

[Tzatziki_Man]

This is definitely going to be Kane's last season. If we're managing him week by week, and he is struggling to get up, don't see how the poor guy can play into 2023

 

[Muddiemoose]

I find it ridiculous that the club let him put himself through immense pain and career & future wellbeing risking harm just to play games against West Coast, Collingwood, Hawthorn & Essendon - 4 shleps.

If we were going to risk this guys career, income & physical well being to play games, surely you would have done that against teams where he was completely needed. If we can't beat those teams with Kane Lambert, then the team was always ducked.

Personally, i would not have played him if that was even a tiny chance of being the final cost. Feels like not many decisions are being made to think beyond our final chance "at glory". Very much has a "duck it" feel to it

Effectively we could lose Lambert, Riewoldt, Cotchin, Edwards & Dusty by the end of the year.

All the decisions to play were put to Lambert he wasn’t pressured in any way by the club or forced to do anything

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

I find it ridiculous that the club let him put himself through immense pain and career & future wellbeing risking harm just to play games against West Coast, Collingwood, Hawthorn & Essendon - 4 shleps.

If we were going to risk this guys career, income & physical well being to play games, surely you would have done that against teams where he was completely needed. If we can't beat those teams with Kane Lambert, then the team was always ducked.

Personally, i would not have played him if that was even a tiny chance of being the final cost. Feels like not many decisions are being made to think beyond our final chance "at glory". Very much has a "duck it" feel to it

Effectively we could lose Lambert, Riewoldt, Cotchin, Edwards & Dusty by the end of the year.

And if lost one of those games you'll be asking why do we have a 3 time premiership player who is available sitting on the sidelines.lol
Your so predictable.

 

[Dinith]

This guy is the epitomy of the Richmond Man

 

[Dr Tigris]

This is definitely going to be Kane's last season. If we're managing him week by week, and he is struggling to get up, don't see how the poor guy can play into 2023

Amazing man. But this just sucks so much for him. A hip replacement is a serious thing. Great player, great person. Hope he gets a 3rd premiership to leave on.

 

[SunshineBoy]

Amazing man. But this just sucks so much for him. A hip replacement is a serious thing. Great player, great person. Hope he gets a 4th premiership to leave on.

Efa

 

[RJK Tiger]

And if lost one of those games you'll be asking why do we have a 3 time premiership player who is available sitting on the sidelines.lol
Your so predictable.

No i wouldn't - but thanks for talking on my behalf.

I have been very consistent that if this team is worth the "one more shot", we need our young brigade to start stepping up, otherwise any success (outside of top 4 ) is pointless as it will be minor & very short-term.

In previous years we were excellent in timing the boys run with injury issues to be "cherry ripe" for the games we needed them, later in the season. Prestia, Lynch we all did this with. I think it definitely tells us where the club is at that they pretty much abandoned that approach to run Lambert a month straight against the weakest tier of opponent around.

Hip injuries are no joke & trying to play through them almost always leads to disaster. Just ask Isiah Thomas - when the Celtics allowed him to "play through it" to help them try win a championship & honor is recently deceased sister - it cost him 10's of millions of wages, his entire career & most likely his future quality of life. The poor guy has to keep playing now to make up for the lost money. It also cost the Celtics dearly, as they have become a no go zone for Free Agents.



Love Lambo & hope he is ok. hope the club cover all future medical bills associated with the injury & also offer him a role around the club if he needs financial security. In terms of his importance to our success vs his salary, he has almost always been the most underpaid.

 

[RJK Tiger]

All the decisions to play were put to Lambert he wasn’t pressured in any way by the club or forced to do anything

As per that article on IT, you don't have club doctors around to leave decisions up to the player. These guys are warriors and need protecting from themselves.

They are also playing for future contracts, and Lambo is out of contract. He never really got the "juicy contract" he deserved & I dare say the belief was he would get overpaid over the next contract ( 2 years) to reward him as the golden era move on and free up the cap space.

It will be very hard for the club to re-sign him at all after this, let alone to an "overs" contract like they gave Marlion to make up for being underpaid when weighing against his output/performance etc

Hip injuries are really bad for peoples future wellbeing - its the beginning of the end for all elderly people. I myself have had lowe back issues that became hip issues & the pain i lived in 100% of the time was borderline unbearable.

People talk about his process to "get himself up" & that would entail a lot of exercise and stretchs etc - but also a lot of anti-inflams, painkillers etc. Guy is a warrior, love him to bits - just don't like seeing players do this to themselves as the future cost on them is awful - wait till he is 40, 50 etc. Its especially yuck as he did all that to play against a 2 teams that are borderline VFL level & another 2 that were full of 10+ U23 year olds. These are the games where blokes like RCD, Dow - even Ross, Sonsie - should have played. If we lose because of that, then we are no good anyway

 

[Muddiemoose]

As per that article on IT, you don't have club doctors around to leave decisions up to the player. These guys are warriors and need protecting from themselves.

They are also playing for future contracts, and Lambo is out of contract. He never really got the "juicy contract" he deserved & I dare say the belief was he would get overpaid over the next contract ( 2 years) to reward him as the golden era move on and free up the cap space.

It will be very hard for the club to re-sign him at all after this, let alone to an "overs" contract like they gave Marlion to make up for being underpaid when weighing against his output/performance etc

I know Kane personally, you are wrong on basically every single point you made

 

[Drunken Wookie]

This guy is the epitomy of the Richmond Man

Pay him 500k a season to be our mascot.

 

[Nerflardio2424]

Got a feeling he won’t play again

 

[RJK Tiger]

I know Kane personally, you are wrong on basically every single point you made

So then tell us the deal, what im writing is mostly in support of him and his future life, i really despise the "macho warrior" male mentality in sports that has seen yesterdays heroes become tomorrows cripples or worse later in life by "playing through it". Most of us are not in a position to know these guys personally - but when i read an article at the start of the year that he may require surgery due to bad hip issues, that then leads to he has avoid surgery - that then leads to this - its fair to wonder did we just put this guy through a lot of pain to help us win a bunch of games against a bunch of kids. Its very hard to believe that the risk calculation on the early prognosis vs the end result here would have to be close to "worst case scenario". Not sure what situation could be that he went from "season ending surgery" to playing good footy, back to season/career ending chronic injury, where the decision to let him play did not make the condition worse, or at least put him through a lot of extra pain for very little reason other than to get a few wins against teams that are frankly, not very good.

If you can shed some light on it that would be great - genuinely love the guy, his game and commitment to the club. Im basically calculating it all based on the narrative we were fed. Thats the timeline. It reads alot like they knew the season would be over if surgery, they thought he might be able to manage through it via preparation, they risked it - but ultimately the pain and discomfort got too much to bear. Its hard to comprehend that the extra 6 weeks of pro footy playing on the hip (VFL included) didn't make the injury worse? Its kinda crazy they played him 6 games in a row considering the chronic nature of his injury + age, yeah? especially considering the weakness of opponents


This is clearly going to be his last season though, managing an injury that requires a hip replacement is not a year to year proposition. i hope he made the cash he deserved throughout his career, he was easily in our top 10 of the dynasty era

March 3rd

Tigers star potentially facing long-term stint on sidelines

A major injury concern is understood to be emerging at Punt Road.

www.zerohanger.com

April 3rd

Important Tiger preparing for early return from hip issue

Some good news on the injury front for the Tigers.

www.sen.com.au

May 1st

Lambert runs straight back into fine form

Kane Lambert’s successful return to Richmond’s senior side was another key highlight for the Tigers in their 109-point victory over West Coast at Optus Stadium last Friday night.

www.richmondfc.com.au

May 25th

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