Richmond megastar Dustin Martin will miss Thursday night's AFL blockbuster against a Carlton team featuring a mid-season draftee.

Martin hasn't trained this week because of a bad bout of the 'flu but the Tigers' key forward Tom Lynch will return from a hamstring strain for the MCG fixture.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/sport/afl/tiger-ace-martin-to-miss-afl-blockbuster/ar-AAYtyht?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=de1c604b01c648289a8e0fd96a50156a

My only concern with Durdin from watching some of the vfl last weekend is that he seemed to lack a bit of agility. He has good skills and is a strong mark and knows how to position himself, but he seemed a bit lumbering. Hopefully it’s just him picking up the pace and getting used to a new team and system.

Unreal ... P. Dow ... pack your bags. Selectors have failed this boy.
I think we badly needed Dow this week as a replacement for Cerra. Our midfield struggled against Essendon** ... it has not been strengthened for this match.

The question now is what can we get for him?

Richmond v Carlton
Thursday – 7:20pm – MCG

A mouth-watering clash awaits footy fans as rivals and finals hopefuls Richmond and Carlton do battle on the MCG.

Looking back to their last meeting which came in Round 1, the Blues were able to run over the top of a Tigers side that had their chances to assert their dominance earlier in the game.

With a see-sawing contest to go off just a few months ago, you’d expect this clash to also be a tight affair.

In that fixture, Richmond talls Jack Riewoldt and Tom Lynch were kept to just three goals combined, but none of the Carlton tall defenders that they faced in Jacob Weitering, Oscar McDonald and Mitch McGovern will be there this time around.

While the Blues sit fourth with a 9-3 record and Richmond outside the eight at 7-5, it’s the Tigers who enter as slight favourites on the back of their Round 13 win over Port Adelaide.

Although Carlton would expect to get the upper hand on-ball, the aerial discrepancy could be what decides this clash, particularly in Richmond’s forward 50.

For the Blues to get the job done, they’ll need Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow to at the very least equal the impact of Riewoldt and Lynch, and that looms a tough task with a weakened Carlton defence set to be their direct match-ups.

It’ll be a close one, but this could be the week that Carlton’s injury woes catch up with them.

Tip: Richmond by 10 points.

Lachlan Geleit

Yes, reminded me of Sam Rowe (bless him )

I'm not surprised at all. Walsh goes from half forward into the midfield rotation so he takes over Cerra's role.
Cottrell showed last week that he can play a half forward/wing role and hit the scoreboard so he deserves the spot.
As for failing Dow, give me a break. Early on he received constant opportunities whilst he had massive holes in his game.
We're fortunate enough now that we can leave him in VFL until he develops his game sufficiently. At the moment he wins the contested ball well but he does nothing with it. In the AFL he doesn't have sufficient confidence in his own disposal to kick the ball so he handballs to the closest player and transfers the pressure to them.

He has several AFL talents (power, great hands, reads the contested ball extremely well) but he has significant deficiencies as well. He doesn't contribute outside the stoppages, can't read the open play and he offers no value in any other position.
If he is diligent and has the right attitude, the coaches will turn him into a quality AFL player but he needs to keep working on his weaknesses.

And for the record, I'm not potting the guy. I've been a consistent supporter of him when most others gave up. But I believe I'm realistic about what he needs to do to build a career in the AFL.

Unreal ... P. Dow ... pack your bags. Selectors have failed this boy.
I think we badly needed Dow this week as a replacement for Cerra. Our midfield struggled against Essendon** ... it has not been strengthened for this match.

The question now is what can we get for him?