Richmond Tigers stars Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli injured in nightclub incident

Richmond Tigers stars Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli have been injured during nightclub incident over the weekend, with the latter set to miss three weeks of football.

The pair were reportedly defending Rioli’s girlfriend from a man acting innapropriately.

It led to a physical altercation that saw Rioli suffer a cut under his eye that required stitches, while Bolton is facing 2-3 weeks on the sidelines with a broken wrist.

The club confirmed the news on Monday night. 

“Richmond players Daniel Rioli and Shai Bolton were involved in an incident at a nightclub over the weekend,” the statement said. 

“An altercation took place after Rioli’s girlfriend was subjected to inappropriate behaviour.

“Rioli was punched after confronting the patron and suffered a cut under his eye that required two stitches.

“Bolton became involved in the ensuing altercation and sustained a fractured wrist that will require surgery.

“He will be sidelined for the next two to three weeks.”

The pair are not expected to be sanctioned by Richmond over the incident, however the AFL may take action. 

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick came out in support of his two players on Monday night’s edition of AFL 360.

“It obviously wasn‘t ideal. I can understand the fixation on our players, but from our point of view, a player’s partner was put in an inappropriate situation that she didn’t feel comfortable with,” he said. 

“Daniel stood up and tried to eradicate the situation, and was punched in the eye. I don’t condone violence but the reality is, put anyone in that situation, they’re gonna stand up for their partner and their mates.

“We‘ve spoken to the players at length – we’ve gone through a thorough process. Not myself, but Tim Livingstone and Blair Hartley do a great job of that, and so we’ve got to the bottom of it.

“The evidence we’ve got, the story we have, from our point of view we back in the players.

“We’re disappointed that it’s come to that situation, we don’t condone violence, but we understand these situations happen from time to time – though it doesn’t make it right.”

It’s a tough blow for the Tigers, who are already missing Shane Edwards, Kane Lambert, Dion Prestia, Trent Cotchin and Ivan Soldo.