Richmond has full-strength team for Round 1 clash against CarltonSam Landsberger
Herald-Sun
April 01, 2015 12:17PMRICHMOND could unleash a full-strength line-up against Carlton tomorrow night as the powerhouse clubs open the 2015 season.
Defenders Chris Newman and David Astbury are both chances to face the Blues as the Tigers aim to register a 10th-straight home-and-away victory.
Coach Damien Hardwick’s side recovered from a disastrous 3-10 start last year to peel off nine consecutive wins before being blown away by Port Adelaide in September.
Hardwick said the Round 1 blockbuster “can’t come quick enough”.
He revealed rookie revelation Kane Lambert and youngster Kamdyn McIntosh were in the frame to debut but selections would be finalised this afternoon.
“We’ve got match committee now, so we’ll finalise our squad but they’ve both trained well, they’ve both put their hands up, they’ve had pretty solid pre-seasons,” Hardwick said.
“There will be some new faces, we’ve just got to make sure we work our way through that with regard to match committee this afternoon.
“I think we’re in for some exciting times with a couple of those fellas you spoke about.”
Astbury and Newman both joined in the light session with the Tigers looking impressively sharp.
Hardwick said Astbury had put his hand up for selection but, like Newman, needed medical clearance to run out on the MCG.
Newman is recovering from surgery to correct an abnormal heart beat and Astbury was in hospital last week after standing on a stingray.
Astbury described the pain of the stingray barb as worse than his serious knee injuries and still has stitches in his foot.
Only Nathan Foley (foot) is unavailable from Richmond’s best side.
Former Geelong tagger Taylor Hunt appears set to make his Tigers debut.
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