Richmond veteran Dustin Martin has been ruled out of the trip to South Australia to face Port Adelaide due to a back injury that has sidelined him since round 16.
The 33-year-old missed training on Thursday and will now be out for a third consecutive game after missing losses to Fremantle and Greater Western Sydney.
Tigers coach Adem Yze remains confident the Brownlow medallist will play a role in the final rounds of the home and away season and might return next weekend against Collingwood.
“Right now, the frustration is he can’t train to prepare for the next game, whenever that is. Hopefully, it is next weekend. We just need to get some volume into him, so hopefully, he can do that next week,” Yze told reporters at Punt Road on Thursday morning.
“The back is still a bit grumbly. We’ll assess that next week. If we can get some training load into him, hopefully, we’ll get him back for that Collingwood game. That’s what we’re aiming for right now.”
Yze also discussed the challenges players face with tackling in the current climate, referencing the three-game suspension handed to Greater Western Sydney’s Toby Bedford for a tackle that left Richmond’s Tim Taranto with a concussion.
“I feel for the players. When you’re in a tackling motion and you’re going to ground, it is hard to know what’s going on; a lot of times you might have your eyes closed,” Yze said.
“The bigger guys have an advantage with the fact they can let go because they are stronger. If we’ve got Liam Baker trying to tackle Patty Cripps, he is just trying to stop him from getting possession. For him to think of anything else is tough.
“It is a hard one. When you’re tackling someone and you’re taking someone to the ground, it is hard to let go – you want to finish the tackle. The main thing we’ve been coaching is no real dump tackles or driving motion.”
