Richmond AFL defender Graham Polak remains at The Alfred Hospital and is recovering slowly five days after he was seriously injured when hit by a tram.

There has been little change to his condition since Wednesday, which is common with brain injuries, the football club said in a statement.

Polak, 24, awoke from an induced coma on Monday after suffering brain bruising when he was hit by the tram on Saturday night while crossing Dandenong Road in the Melbourne suburb of Armadale.

Polak's girlfriend Alyce Oksuz said her partner knew he had been involved in an accident and had improved over the past few days.

"Every day I go in there he does something new which surprises me, which is really good for me and his family to see," she told the Nine Network's The Footy Show.

Polak has walked assisted to the shower and spoken from his hospital bed.

"His true personality is really trying to shine through," Oksuz said.

"He's a very clean boy and loves a shower and is obsessive with deodorant and aftershave, so he's definitely getting back on track."

Oksuz said she and the Polak family had been thrilled with the support from the general public.

"It's amazing, we've had from everybody across the whole board," she said.

"He'll be so grateful for that.

"He's a very shy boy but once everything calms down he'll be very appreciative of everything that everyone has done for him.

"The amount of emails he's got has been amazing and we're very thankful for everyone's support on this."

Richmond said Polak was eating and able to recognise names and faces, but was still sleeping most of the time.

Oksuz said Polak's condition was improving, but said it was too early to talk about his rehabilitation.

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