Richmond star Nathan Brown will play in Saturday’s practice match against the Western Bulldogs at Shepparton.
It will be Brown’s first appearance for Richmond since breaking his right leg during the Round 10 clash with Melbourne last year.
He returned to the playing field last week when he played half a VFL practice match for the Coburg Tigers against the Kangaroos reserves.
“The plan all along has been to play him half a game last week and, if he pulled up okay, to continue that program,” said Richmond’s Football Operations Manager Paul Armstrong.
“He did, but because Coburg doesn’t have a game this weekend, the opportunity is for him to play two or three quarters in Shepparton against the Bulldogs.
“Last week, he played the first half and then was rested. This week, we’ll see how he goes playing a bit before half-time, resting, then re-starting after the break. That’s all part of the next step for him . . .”
Richmond will rest captain Kane Johnson, deputy vice-captains Joel Bowden and Matthew Richardson, plus players such as Chris Newman, Troy Simmonds and Greg Stafford this weekend.
But the Tigers will welcome back the likes of Darren Gaspar, Mark Coughlan, Andrew Kellaway and Trent Knobel, who all missed last Saturday’s NAB Cup opener against Hawthorn.
The 28-man Tiger squad for Saturday’s practice match against the Western Bulldogs is:
2. Darren Gaspar
3. Brett Deledio
4. Andrew Raines
7. Nathan Brown
8. Tom Roach
13. Trent Knobel
14. Dean Polo
16. Patrick Bowden
18. David Rodan
19. Dean Limbach
20. Ray Hall
21. Shane Tuck
22. Danny Meyer
23. Daniel Jackson
24. Mark Coughlan
25. Jay Schulz
26. Adam Pattison
27. Andrew Krakouer
30. Richard Tambling
31. Chris Hyde
32. Greg Tivendale
33. Brent Hartigan
35. Matthew White
36. Will Thursfield
38. Luke McGuane
39. Andrew Kellaway
41. Nathan Foley
42. Jeremy Humm
