Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says the return from injury of Chris Tarrant adds some steel to the Magpies’ backline ahead of Saturday night’s round-two AFL clash with Richmond at the MCG.

The Magpies regain Tarrant and Dayne Beams at the expense of Luke Rounds and debutant Peter Yagmoor.

While last year’s grand finalists Collingwood lost to premiership favourites Hawthorn by 22 points in round one under new coach Buckley, the Tigers failed to live up to their pre-season hype with a 44-point loss to Carlton last week.

But Buckley says the Tigers showed throughout the pre-season that they will be a strong side in 2012.

“‘Taz’ (Tarrant) is a great addition for us. Having him through our defensive rotations is important,” Buckley said on Friday.

“It adds that bit of experience and steel for us in the second round. Beamsy has been coming back gradually and his form in the last couple of weeks was excellent.”

Skipper Nick Maxwell trained with the side on Friday at Gosch’s Paddock but has been ruled out of the Richmond game as he recovers from an ankle injury.

Buckley said Maxwell wouldn’t play VFL this weekend.

Maxwell’s absence is a blow for the Magpies with Buckley admitting he’s a fan of Richmond’s attack.

“Richmond have been playing their three talls. (Ty) Vickery, (Jack) Riewoldt and (Brad) Miller have been as good as any through the NAB Cup,” Buckley said.

“Miller in particular, his form up around that front half has been quite damaging.

“Although Carlton were able to hold both Miller and Vickery for times last week, we expect that they’ll want to bounce back pretty quickly.

“So it’s going to be important early in the match to try to keep that ascendancy.”