After managing just 26 games in his first four years of league football with Essendon, Houli has fully grasped the opportunity presented this season at his new club, Richmond, and is flourishing in his rebounding role off half-back.
The dashing left-footer is averaging 21.7 disposals per game and is ranked No. 5 at the Club for total disposals, with 261. He has collected 20 disposals or more six times, with a career equal-high 31 touches v Port Adelaide in the Round 10 Darwin clash.
And, to further underline the influence Houli is asserting in his debut season at Tigerland, he is ranked No. 1 in the total marks category, with 74 from his 12 games.
Houli’s capacity to read the play, swoop on the ball, run and carry, then deliver with his spearing left-foot kicks, has provided the Tiger team with a significant boost.
If the voting for the Jack Dyer Medal was counted now, I reckon it’s a fair bet that Houli would be in the top three or four.
In the April issue of ‘The Fighting Tiger’ magazine, I wrote a piece on Houli, highlighting the off-field impact he’d already had at Richmond in a short space of time.
This was in reference to the 64 new members Houli had been responsible for signing - family and friends, who wanted to buy 2011 Richmond memberships, as a show of support for him, and the Tigers, who had provided him with a fresh start at the game’s highest level.
“The atmosphere at the Club has been amazing, particularly from the boys themselves . . . they’ve made me feel really welcome, and I definitely feel at home,” Houli said at the outset of his league career at Tigerland.
“They have respected where I’ve come from, why I’ve come to the Club, and I haven’t looked back. “Everybody has contributed in making me feel so comfortable here.”
I wrote that if the off-field impact Houli was already having with the Tigers translated to his on-field performance in 2011, then he would surely be acclaimed as the recruit of the year.
A dozen games in, and Houli’s on target to reach those lofty heights, much to the delight of the Tiger faithful . . .
