Former Melbourne captain, Garry Lyon, has declared which Richmond player he would tag and it isn’t one of the usual suspects.
Instead of Brownlow fancy, Dustin Martin, or skipper Trent Cotchin, Lyon has revealed he would send extra attention to one of the Tigers’ creative half backs.
“The one bloke I’d go to and put work into is Bachar Houli,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
“He is the guy you got to go to and play your best defensive forward on. He runs free and gets no pressure put on him.”
Houli amassed 31 disposals on the weekend against North Melbourne, 26 of which hit the target. The 29-year-old was afforded plenty of space and had 23 uncontested possessions, representing a constant source of drive and penetration coming out of defence.
For the season, Houli is averaging 22.8 disposals with an efficiency percentage of 82.1.
Click HERE to view Bachar Houli's SEN Inside Football Player Ratings.
Lyon also praised coach Damien Hardwick for his ability to get his middle-tier players to elevate themselves to a new level.
“I keep looking at the Tigers line-up and think, gee, where is it all coming from?” he said.
“They’ve got one great forward, a great full back and two great midfielders. And then you start adding the layers and Hardwick has been able to improve this side from within. Blokes like David Astbury, Kamdyn McIntosh, Brandon Ellis and Shaun Grigg have all been very good.”
Richmond enters their bye week fourth on the ladder with seven wins.