Round 3 Richmond team



B: Chaplin, Batchelor, Rance

HB: Houli, Vlastuin, Astbury

C: B. Ellis, Cotchin, McIntosh

HF: Morris, Edwards, Knights

F: Riewoldt, Lloyd, Griffiths

R: Maric, Martin, Hunt

IC: Grigg, Newman, Miles, Gordon

Em: Hampson, McDonough, Drummond

In: Edwards, Astbury, Knights

Out: Grimes (hamstring), Petterd (foot), Lambert (shoulder)

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Versatile, talented Tiger Chris Knights will play his first senior league game for almost two years, when he lines up against Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday night.

Richmond has named Knights in its line-up for the Round 3 clash following his recent impressive form at VFL level.

See how Brisbane is lining up in Round 3 this weekend

Knights joined the Tigers in late 2012 as an unrestricted free agent from the Adelaide Crows, where he had played 96 games over eight seasons.

He made a promising start to his playing career at Richmond in 2013, before tearing the patella tendon in his right knee during the Round 7 match against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.

That ended his season after just five games, and he endured further significant knee trouble throughout 2014, which restricted him to just a few appearances at VFL level for the Tigers.

Now, however, he’s managed to overcome his injury woes and has forced his way back into Richmond’s senior side.

Another Tiger player returning to senior ranks, following a lengthy absence is defender David Astbury, who suffered a similar injury to Knights in the first half of last season.

Astbury dislocated his kneecap in Richmond’s Round 9 loss to Melbourne at the MCG and was sidelined until making an appearance with the Tigers’ VFL team in its final game of the season.

At the time, Astbury was in the best form of his career, having beaten several of the competition’s most dangerous key forwards during the opening rounds of season 2014.

The other inclusion in the Richmond side for Saturday night’s game is clever forward/midfielder Shane Edwards, who has recovered from the calf injury that ruled him out last round.

They replace injured trio Dylan Grimes (hamstring), Ricky Petterd (foot) and Kane Lambert (shoulder).

Richmond’s three emergencies for the Round 3 game are Shaun Hampson, Matt McDonough and Nathan Drummond.