WHILE football's rumours mill dictates that Nick Riewoldt is either undergoing knee reconstruction or missing the first eight weeks of the season, St Kilda insists the case is nothing so drastic.

The club says Riewoldt has tendonitis of the knee and nothing more. It says that while he will not play this week, he should play the weekend after.

There is some suggestion that he has a minor strain of his anterior cruciate ligament but this is significantly different to a tear of the ligament and can be managed.

He is able to train fully and pain only appears when he attempts long kicks. The pain is not expected to unduly affect his season.

A different scare went through Moorabbin on Friday night when youngster Raphael Clarke collapsed after the win over Richmond.

He was taken to Epworth Hospital for precautionary scans which cleared him of serious damage and while he will not play this week he has been cleared to play afterwards.

It seemed that Clarke, who has been plagued by injury in his short career, suffered dehydration in the heat before suffering a knock to his ribs.

His manager Ricky Nixon said the combined effects of the dehydration and the knock were felt to have caused the collapse.

"I have spoken to him and it does not seem to be something that is an ongoing concern. The doctors felt it was just a bit of dehydration," Nixon said.