RUCKMAN Ivan Maric is back in Richmond's team for the first time since round six after Shaun Hampson was not able to recover in time from a knee injury.
Hampson hurt his right knee in the dying minutes of last Saturday's win against the Brisbane Lions and was also affected by the flu during the week.
Tigers coach Damien Hardwick is confident Maric could perform in Friday night's clash against Port Adelaide – in what will be only his third AFL game for the season.
Opposition Analysis: Round 15, Port Adelaide
"Shaun won't play this week. It's obviously been a short week for us," Hardwick said at the airport on Thursday.
"(Maric has) been in good form at VFL level, so it's great to have the big fella back."
The Power have been using defender Jackson Trengove as their primary big man after Matthew Lobbe and Dougal Howard succumbed to knee injuries. Former Bomber Paddy Ryder is serving a season-long suspension.
Hardwick said there was a combination of reasons for Maric's absence from the senior team.
"In fairness, he was injured through the pre-season and Shaun just grabbed that spot. Possession's nine-tenths of the law," Hardwick said.
"Shaun actually performed pretty well and Ivan was probably a little slow to get up and going."
Maric, 30, hasn't played at any level for more than two weeks, in a match against Werribee on July 12. The Tigers had the VFL bye a fortnight ago while Maric sat out last week as a precaution after Hampson was injured in the AFL.
Last year's No.15 selection Daniel Rioli will play in the reserves after missing the Lions game due to his grandfather's funeral.
"(Rioli's) back, but he'll play VFL. He's missed a little bit of training," Hardwick said.
"We'll push him a little bit more on-ball so he can get some more touch, get his form back up to the level that we'd like it to be.
"He was probably in OK form without being great."
Tall forward Ben Griffiths made the flight over to Adelaide and will be named in the 25 after illness forced him to miss last week. Defender Jake Batchelor was also a late out for that clash with back soreness, but he won't feature against the Power.
The 22 to face the Power will be named on Thursday evening.
Star recruit Chris Yarran returned to the club on Tuesday after missing a month to deal with mental health issues.
His coach said Yarran, 25, would need to bring his foot to full health before he joins full training. The former Blue had surgery on his left foot in March.
"Obviously Chris is an important part of our future. We're just here to support him. Once again, there's no timeframe on when he's going to return. He's just got to feel comfortable doing so," Hardwick said.
"He's come through a foot injury, so that's one of the things he's got to get right. He's just working through his rehab process at the moment."
Hardwick said he was unsure how long it would take Yarran's foot to heal.
