Richmond turns to new recruits for season-opener against Carlton * Greg Denham
* From: The Australian
* March 21, 2011 RICHMOND could introduce as many as five fresh faces into its line-up in the AFL season-opener against Carlton at the MCG on Thursday night.
After an ordinary pre-season campaign that included just one practice match win and an emotional Fighting Tiger fund-raiser last week that has already pledged more than $2.5 million of additional revenue for the club, Richmond is attempting to avoid its third round-one thrashing by the Blues in as many years.
Terry Wallace's senior coaching career was as good as over when his team, buoyed by Ben Cousins' return to the AFL, was humiliated by 83 points in front of more than 87,000 in the first game of 2009. And last year's start was not much better for new coach Damien Hardwick, when the Tigers went down to the Blues by 56 points, though there was little of the expectation from the previous year.
Attempting to arrest the recent Tigers early-season trend of blowout losses will be former Blues player Shaun Grigg, ex-Essendon midfielder Bachar Houli and the Tigers' first national draft selection from last year, Reece Conca.
Also looking to make their debut are Jake Batchelor and Brad Helbig.
With injuries to Kelvin Moore (hip) and Mitch Farmer (heel) and the suspension to Jake King, it appears that at least two, and possibly all, of the first three teenagers drafted by Richmond last year - Conca, at pick No 6 overall, Batchelor (30) and Helbig (47) - will make their senior debut on Thursday.
Conca is likely to start across half-back after an excellent pre-season, Batchelor is being considered as a running defender and Helbig could get a gig first up as a forward-midfielder.
Helbig, from West Adelaide, could be one of the Tigers' best bargains in recent years as they offered his national draft selection (47) to Essendon to secure Houli earlier, but the Bombers rejected the move and then later lost out on drafting Helbig.
Grigg and Houli were recruited from rival clubs to add more depth to a midfield that will also have a fit Nathan Foley available for the first time since early last season. Achilles and ankle problems have restricted Foley to just 18 out of a possible 44 games over the past two seasons.
Carlton, an odds-on favourite, cannot consider Ryan Houlihan (calf), Matthew Kreuzer (knee) and Setanta O'hAilpin (ankle), while Lachie Henderson is in doubt due to a restricted pre-season following hip surgery, but he has played two practice matches.
Carlton could play former defender Bret Thornton as a key forward after he was successfully trialled in an attacking role during the pre-season. Another positional move the Blues will swing this year is their use of Chris Yarran as a running defender after playing mainly as an opportunistic forward in his first two seasons at the elite level.
Without suspended full-back Michael Jamison, a new-look Blues back line will include ex-Geelong defender Jeremy Laidler for the first time and possibly mature-age South Australian recruit Nick Duigan.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/richmond-turns-to-new-recruits-for-season-opener-against-carlton/story-e6frg7mf-1226025050544
