Foot surgery has dashed Richmond's hopes that recruit Chris Yarran might play early in the AFL season.
Yarran will be sidelined for about six weeks because he needs an operation to fix plantar fascia tissue in his left foot.
The bad news comes a day after revelations that Reece Conca's hamstring injury is worse than first thought.
The Tigers have ruled out Conca for 10 weeks.
Coach Damien Hardwick was upbeat about Yarran only last week, saying the former Carlton utility had recovered quicker than expected from a calf muscle injury.
Richmond were hopeful Yarran might return in the next week or two through the VFL.
But the running defender needs the operation to fix a problem he has managed for the past few seasons.
"While this is a setback following a solid block of training over the past month in particular, the positive is that the surgery has a high success rate," said Tigers football manager Dan Richardson.
"We look forward to Chris playing his best football for us once he fully recovers.
"At this stage, we expect this to be a six-week injury, but we'll await further medical advice post-surgery."
Yarran was traded to Richmond late last year after 119 games for Carlton.
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