Richmond's Pick 7 selection Josh Smillie has been placed on an alternative training program this pre-season after suffering a minor hamstring strain during match simulation last week.
The Tigers will take a conservative approach with the teenager, who is hopeful of returning in time for the club's upcoming trial matches.
Already undergoing a modified program, Smillie will be utilised away from the main group for the time being.
โJosh has come to the Club and had a sporadic load over the last little while, which is typical of most first years,โ Richmond high performance boss Ben Serpell said in a club update.
โBecause of that (and his minor hamstring issue) we have decided to take a conservative approach with him and give him some consistent training.
โWe still expect him to be around the mark for the early parts of the season, hopefully by trial (game) time.โ
Fellow Richmond draftee Jasper Alger hurt his knee during last Friday's session but is still in consideration for the club's pair of pre-season games against West Coast and Collingwood next month.
Serpell said Alger has avoided a serious hyper-extension of his knee and will return to training as early as this week.
โJasper hyper-extended his knee in match play last week. He got a little bit spooked, but the scans came back positively,โ Serpell said.
โHe will train a little bit later this week and there is a chance he will get out for match play (on Friday).
โBut if not this week, it is going to be next week (that he returns to partaking in match play).โ
The club has also detailed that young defender Josh Gibcus won't feature in the early stages of the coming season as he eyes a return from an ACL injury sustained during Round 1 last year.
The Tigers are continuing to take a conservative approach with their key backman as they view him as a long-term prospect.
Young forward Judson Clarke, who is also rehabbing from an ACL injury sustained last year, could be back by April.