RICHMOND is yet to make a call between cousins Ivan Maric and Ivan Soldo as the pair jockey for selection against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.
With No.1 ruckman Toby Nankervis suspended for one match, the Tigers face a choice between project rookie Soldo and his 157-game mentor.
Coach Damien Hardwick said there was no awkward family rivalry ahead of the match committee's decision on Thursday afternoon.
"They're incredibly close and whichever way it goes they'll be supportive of each other," Hardwick said.
"Ivan (Maric) is doing an outstanding job working with all our rucks at the moment. That's the calibre of person he is – he'll certainly put the team before his own person performance.
"We've got Ivan's (Maric) experience that we like and then we've got Soldo's youth and exuberance which we like also. We'll be looking at both of those options."
Maric has been a mentor for Soldo since the youngster arrived at Punt Road Oval as a category B rookie in 2014, helping the 21-year make big strides last season in 15 VFL games.
Football manager Neil Balme on Wednesday said the popular club veteran would see the positives in whatever choice the match committee made.
"He's got some conflicting motivations I reckon, because he's doing a lot of work with our ruckmen, but particularly Soldo who he is quite close to," Balme told AFL.com.au.
"He's working hard with those blokes, but he's also working hard on his own game.
"He's still contributing enormously as a person and that's the sort of man that he is, but he would love to play seniors again, there's no doubt about that.
"He's managing to balance all of that and let someone else make the decisions."
Balme said the choice for a replacement ruckman would likely come down to Maric and Soldo, with Mabior Chol coming off a quiet VFL hit-out.
Maric, who has overcome a back complaint, led the ruck against Port Melbourne and finished with 36 hit-outs and 15 possessions.
Soldo, meanwhile, was used in the forward line after some reasonable VFL performances to allow the match committee to see what else he could offer in attack.
The Tigers have room to upgrade the rookie on Thursday, with Nathan Broad, Jack Graham and Shaun Hampson all on their long-term injury list and only rookie Jason Castagna upgraded at this stage.
"If it's not this week it'll be at some point … we reckon he'll play almost certainly at some point," Balme said of Soldo.
The Tigers will also consider recalling tall forward Todd Elton after selecting a small forward line against the Adelaide.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-05-04/tigers-yet-to-make-a-selection-call-on-cousins
