Richmond coach Ryan Ferguson will be seeking answers as to why midfielder Sophie Molan spent so much time off the ground after suffering a nasty head knock during the Tigers' AFLW win over West Coast in Perth.
Molan came off second best in an ugly clash of heads with West Coast's Ella Smith in the first quarter of their 6.7 (43) to 3.6 (24) win on Friday and took hardly any further part in the game.
But Ferguson said Molan was fine after passing her concussion test and intimated she could have had more of an involvement in the contest.
"She seemed to be off the ground for a long time, so we'll have to look into that," Ferguson said.
"Whether that's on us or the AFL, but she was off for way too long.
"Don't know why she was off for so long."
In more positive news for the Tigers, Ferguson hoped that star forward Katie Brennan would return for their match against Carlton in the next round after she sat out the Eagles clash with a foot injury.
"We've just got to, day by day, make sure that we look after her and that she's right to play but I'd be hoping she can play next week and then we'll see whether she can back up again or not," Ferguson said.
Richmond were also missing injured pair Maddie Shevlin and Rebecca Miller, and Ferguson said it was a great sign that, even without some of their key players, his team extended their winning streak to five games.
"We don't have to worry about the 'woulddas', 'shoulddas' and 'coulddas' and, 'Oh, if only we had all of our players fit or more of our players fit'," Ferguson said.
"We trust that we have depth in our list that can come in and play a role on any given day."
The Eagles are now out of finals contention, but coach Michael Prior praised young defender Charlie Thomas, who played one of the best games of her fledgling career, saying she is firmly in contention for the Rising Star award.
"I thought she was outstanding tonight, and not just tonight, but her last few weeks have been really good," Prior said.
"Tonight she grew another leg and she took her career a little bit further and played with a bit of poise and a bit of polish.
"She's really grown across that halfback role for us this year."
