Bachar Houli and several Tigers facing delayed start to pre-season due to injury

Bachar Houli is one of at least seven senior Richmond players to have their pre-seasons delayed due to injury but there is better news for Jack Higgins after brain surgery.

Bachar Houli has copped a soft tissue setback, with a calf strain during the off-season delaying his preparation for 2020.

While the Tigers said the injury was only minor, Houli, 31, is one of at least seven first-choice Tigers facing a delayed start to pre-season training.

This year’s All-Australian halfback is not scheduled to resume fully until after Christmas.

But Toby Nankervis has surprised the Richmond medical staff with his recovery from groin surgery after the ruckman played through the discomfort in a late-season return that saw him feature in all three finals.

“That tendon which had come away from the bone had to be reattached post-season, a little higher, where it was meant to be,” Tigers physical performance manager Peter Burge said.

“He is back to running at about 50 per cent now and he’s feeling really good, but we’re taking the longer term approach and not rushing it.

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Bachar Houli has suffered a calf injury.

“That was a great result at the end of last season for Toby to be able to play in the finals series with what he had, but we needed a little bit of minor surgery, or major surgery, in the off-season.

“But where he’s at now is surprising us. He’s going well.”

Rest has appeared to cure Dion Prestia’s achilles tendinitis issues, with the midfielder close to rejoining the main group after resuming running five weeks ago.

The Grand Final’s hard luck story, Jack Graham, won’t be ready for contact training until February, but Burge said the rugged midfielder was ahead of schedule.

“He’s doing moderate speed running at the moment. He’s still got some limitations with the range in his arm so we won’t progress his speed until he can swing that arm a bit further,” he said.

Alex Rance is nearing a return to full training.

Shai Bolton will resume non-contact skills training next week after he underwent a less serious shoulder operation.

Star defender Alex Rance continues his recovery from a knee reconstruction, rebounding well from a minor arthroscope.

“He’s back to running at close to full speed,” Burge said.

“We’re going to gradually build his kicking and introduction to football over the next couple of weeks with the aim of returning to training after Christmas.

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“But he’s on track and it’s looking really good for the pre-season competition next year.”

The Tigers also got some good news on Jack Higgins, with the goalsneak ready to return to the club full-time after undergoing brain surgery in September.

“We gave him more time to come back to the club when he was ready. He was coming in once a week, but he got in touch with us this week to say he would like to resume full-time which is great news,” Burge said.

“We met Jack a couple of weeks ago with the doctor and he was in great spirits, but just needed a bit of extra time. He’s been conditioning off-site with our conditioning staff.

“We’ll progress his training carefully through the Christmas period and new year.”

Originally published as Bachar Houli and several Tigers facing delayed start to pre-season due to injury