WESTERN Bulldogs star Ed Richards will miss up to six weeks after straining his hamstring on Saturday night, but it might open the door for mid-season recruit Caleb Poulter to play his first game for the club.
Richards was subbed out of the 22-point loss to Geelong in the third quarter after initially attempting to play on before coming to the bench and exiting the game.
The 23-year-old underwent scans on Sunday that have revealed results worse than first thought, with a "moderate grade " strain ruling him out for at least a month.
The Western Bulldogs won't see Richards in at least the two games before their bye and the one after the week off, but might not get the Carey Grammar product back until the round 18 trip to the SCG or round 19 fixture against Essendon.
Richards has been one of the best performing half-backs across the first three months of the season, averaging 20 disposals, 409.3m gained, 6.5 intercept possessions and 6.5 rebound 50s.
With Richards joining Jason Johannisen on the sidelines, Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge will need to solve some issues across half-back ahead of Friday night's clash against Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium.
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Johannisen suffered a high-grade hamstring strain with tendon damage in round 10 and is only a fortnight into recovering from the injury that could sideline him for up to 10 weeks.
Former Collingwood wingman Poulter was selected by the Western Bulldogs with pick No.10 in last Wednesday night's Mid-Season Rookie Draft, after joining Footscray in the months after he wasn't offered another contract by the Magpies.
The 20-year-old played at half-back against Geelong in the VFL on Saturday and collected 17 disposals at Avalon Airport Stadium to press his case for a start under Beveridge.
Laitham Vandermeer has also been trialled at half-back in recent weeks and could be considered for his first senior game of 2023 after finishing with 18 touches in Werribee.
Hayden Crozier has been on the outer in the first half of the season after an injury-interrupted year, but the former Docker kept his name in selection contention with 21 disposals, nine marks and a goal.
Luke Cleary collected 26 disposals and 10 marks as he hunts his first game since 2022.
Captain Marcus Bontempelli hyperextended his knee in the loss to the Cats on the weekend but played out the game and has been cleared of structural damage.
Adam Treloar exited the game earlier with a calf issue and appeared in trouble when he went into the rooms in the first quarter, but completed the game after returning from a hamstring strain.
The Western Bulldogs could be in the top-four right now, but back-to-back losses against Gold Coast in Darwin and a depleted Geelong outfit has them back in the pack.