Ben Cousins' stop-start AFL comeback has stalled again, with the Richmond star undergoing surgery to repair a broken hand on Monday night.

The Tigers midfielder broke a bone in his hand in the opening minutes of Sunday's narrow loss to Port Adelaide.

But Cousins, who missed five of Richmond's first eight games this year with a hamstring injury, played on despite the problem and was among the Tigers' best in the three-point loss to the Power.

It was revealed on Monday he would require minor surgery to repair a spiral fracture in the metacarpal bone of his left hand, ruling him out of Saturday's clash with Essendon at the MCG.

The Tigers maintain Cousins is likely to miss just one match, despite undergoing surgery.

"It was an extraordinary effort for Ben to play out the remainder of the match after being hurt so early," Richmond football manager Ross Monaghan said.

"We are hopeful he will only be out for one match."

Richmond star Matthew Richardson praised Cousins' courage in continuing on to gather 24 possessions, including 13 handballs.

"It was actually his first contest (he was injured) and to go through the rest of the game with a broken hand shows you the courage that he's got," Richardson told OneHD's One Week At A Time television program.

"It's just disappointing he can't get a roll-on. He just gets his form up and he's out again."

Meanwhile, Richardson virtually ruled out a mercy dash to Germany to have treatment on his serious hamstring problem, which could sideline him for the rest of the season.

Richardson was injured a fortnight ago and coach Terry Wallace had flagged the prospect of sending the veteran to Germany to undergo a technique which involves injecting calves' blood into the injured area.

The club followed a similar path treating midfielder Mark Coughlan for soft tissue problems, while Geelong also successfully experimented with the same technique on defender Max Rooke.

"I saw the surgeon today and he's very happy with how things are going, so I don't think Germany's an option at this stage," Richardson said.

"We might talk about it in another few weeks if things aren't going to plan."

In other injury news, Collingwood ruckman Josh Fraser believes he could be fit enough for selection in the Pies' away clash with West Coast on Saturday.

Fraser has been battling a knee injury, and missed Collingwood's heavy beating by Carlton last weekend.

"I'd like to think I'm a good chance to play. We'll see at our main training session on Wednesday, and I guess from there we'll have to see how it pulls up."

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