It was a comeback well worth the wait for Toby Nankervis.
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On Sunday, Richmond's premiership ruckman from George Town played his first game at the top level since round eight, having spent three weeks in the VFL since returning from an adductor injury.
Nankervis enjoyed himself in the wet conditions at the MCG, winning 34 hit-outs and collecting 15 possessions, helping out up forward and dropping back into attack.
The Tigers' win also featured an intriguing all-Tasmanian bout between Clarence's Jack Riewoldt in the yellow and black corner and North Hobart's Liam Jones in the navy blue corner.
Jones took the points with another strong showing in defence.
Riewoldt managed 2.1 from just six touches, two marks and two tackles, while Jones had 10 possessions, with seven of those intercepts, and took four marks (with three intercepts), had two clearances, one tackle and one score involvement.
Riewoldt also had four score involvements and laid two tackles.
But, unfortunately, that will be the last act for Jones in 2019 after he was ruled out of the final two games of the season due to a non-displaced fracture of the larynx in his throat.
He had spent Sunday night in hospital after reporting discomfort in the rooms following the match.
"It is disappointing for Jonesy that he won't be able to finish off what has been an outstanding individual season for him," Carlton head of football Brad Lloyd said on Monday.
"Jonesy and our backline group have formed a really strong bond throughout the year - one that will continue to grow with another full pre-season.
"We wish Jonesy a speedy recovery and look forward to having him back and fully fit for day one of pre-season training."
The match review panel also got involved in that match, with Nankervis is set to be $3000 out of pocket after being charged with striking Marc Murphy during the first quarter.
The incident was assessed as intentional conduct with low impact and body contact.
A "chicken-wing" tackle by Riewoldt on Jones was not assessed.
He had earlier this season been fined for a similar incident.
Another Tasmanian spearhead that struggled in front of the sticks in wet conditions was Devonport's Ben Brown on Saturday night.
Not surprisingly, considering his side managed just 1.8, Brown wasn't a feature, having no scoreboard impact and just one score involvement.
Mark Blicavs and Harry Taylor kept Brown to five touches, two marks and one tackle in conditions, like the ones faced by Riewoldt, that weren't made for forwards.
Brown was fortunate that Greater Western Sydney's Jeremy Cameron (1.0) and Geelong's Tom Hawkins (2.4) did not have big games either in front of goals, with Brown (52.29) now equal second on the Coleman Medal table with Hawkins, six behind Cameron with two to play.
Teammate Tarryn Thomas, from North Launceston had 12 touches at 92 per cent disposal efficiency, one mark, three clearances and four tackles, while Launceston's Jake Koldojashnij had 11 touches (four intercepts), one mark, one tackle and one score involvement in defence for Geelong.
On the positive of the goal-kicking ledger was the performance of Burnie's Brody Mihocek in Collingwood's win over Melbourne.
Mihocek kicked 4.1, with one goal assist and eight score involvements on Jake Lever and Steven May.
He had 12 touches, seven marks and six tackles as he took his season tally 32.29 to be two goals behind Jordan De Goey on Collingwood's 2019 goal-kicking list.
The Pies were also well served by Dodges Ferry's Jeremy Howe, who had 22 possessions and took eight marks in defence on Christian Petracca.
Eleven of his touches were uncontested with nine intercepts, with two of his marks intercepts, six rebound 50s, two inside 50s and four score involvements.
In Queensland, Mitch Robinson continued his wonderful season as Chris Fagan's Brisbane easily accounted for Gold Coast in the QClash.
Robinson finished with 28 touches, just one below his season-best, with 12 of those contested (a season best).
The Lauderdale hard-nut also had five marks, eight clearances, one tackle, six inside 50s, two rebound 50s, 1.0 and eight score involvements.
For the Suns, Lachie Weller collected 15 possessions, two marks, two clearances, three tackles, two rebound 50s and 0.1.
Burnie's Robbie Fox played across half-forward in Sydney's loss to Port Adelaide on Saturday, finishing his afternoon with 10 possessions, three marks, three tackles and three score involvements.
The best performed of the Tasmanian players in the lower leagues was Adelaide's Hugh Greenwood.
The former basketballer from Lauderdale, who has missed the past three outings for the Crows, collected 19 disposals, laid 10 tackles and had eight clearances in the Crows' SANFL win over West Adelaide.
The out-of-contract midfielder, who has been linked with Hawthorn, was dropped after Adelaide's loss to Essendon in round 18 after the loss to Essendon, despite the fact he is ranked 13th in the league for tackles per game (6.08) and 11th in the league for tackles inside 50 per game (1.54) while averaging 17.1 touches a game.
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