Houli may miss another weekBy Jake Niall
The Age
24 July 2018Richmond defender Bachar Houli is doubtful to return for the Tigers' pivotal match against Collingwood on Saturday.
Houli missed last Friday night's game against St Kilda due to a sore groin and while he has not been ruled out, the Tigers will take a cautious approach that could see him grounded again.
Richmond are unlikely to make significant changes to the team that demolished the Saints, although young rookie forward Liam Baker is given some chance of making his debut. Injured premiership players Dan Butler Jack Graham will miss again and are expected to be out for another couple of weeks.
The Tigers have already trialled Shai Bolton, who played in their narrow loss to Greater Western Sydney before being sent back to the VFL on the weekend, as a replacement for the speedy
Butler. Bolton was used as a rebounding defender in the VFL on the weekend.
Jack Higgins was played as the third small forward – supporting the highly talented Daniel Rioli and Jason Castagna – in the Saints game, with Shane Edwards also spending time as a forward.
The Tigers see no reason to change their one-ruckman policy at this stage and will continue to deploy Toby Nankervis alone – with support only from non-ruckman Shaun Grigg – as he faces Collingwood's imposing tandem of Brodie Grundy and Mason Cox.
Nankervis' durability has been remarkable, the former Swans follower having missed only one game to injury since 2014 and none since he came over to Richmond for the 2017 season.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/afl/houli-may-miss-another-week-20180723-p4zt65.html