Richmond defender Bachar Houli will join Alex Rance on the sidelines this weekend, after sustaining a hamstring strain in the Tigers' round one win over Carlton on Thursday night.
The Tigers will be down two men from their premiership-winning back six, as they line-up to face a Collingwood forward line that dismantled them in the preliminary final last season.
"Weโll take the week. Weโre very conservative with these calls and we think heโs a very important player so we wonโt play him this week," Richmond coach Damien Hardwick told the media on Wednesday.
โ(If) push comes to shove, he could play, but itโs a marathon not a sprint, so weโll take a week on the chin and move onto next week.โ
Hardwick also spoke about his side's task at replacing the injured Rance, and he believes all 22 players on game day will need to chip in to cover the loss.
"There was no doubt [our emotions were] certainly evident early in the week. The selfless nature of Alex Rance โ he came in and was absolutely incredible with our playing group," Hardwick said.
"I felt guilty feeling sorry for myself. He was incredible. So our players, we understand this happens in footy but we move on.
"As harsh as that seems and as difficult as it is to lose such a soldier as Alex, we've got to move on. Our players accept that. He'll be part of our journey, he's a part of our fabric."
Richmond could bring in Oleg Markov or Brandon Ellis, with Ryan Garthwaite ruled out during to having an interrupted pre-season.
Round one debutant Noah Balta looks likely to swing down back against the Pies.
