RICHMOND will regain skipper Trent Cotchin for next Wednesday night's clash with the Western Bulldogs, while Riley Collier-Dawkins will also come into the selection frame for a potential debut as the Tigers prepare for a hectic fixture block.
The reigning premiers will barely have any time to lick their wounds following a frustrating 12-point loss to Greater Western Sydney, as they prepare for a five-day turnaround that begins a packed schedule that features four matches in 20 days.
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However, Cotchin will return from a hamstring injury, while premiership star David Astbury (knee) and the out-of-favour Sydney Stack are also pushing their cases for recalls.
Big-bodied midfielder Collier-Dawkins, taken with pick No.20 in the 2018 NAB AFL Draft, has also been earmarked by Richmond coach Damien Hardwick for a potential debut next week following a strong series of scratch match performances.
"We're going to pretty flexible with how it looks," Hardwick said after Friday night's loss to the Giants.
"We're going to have a better indication when the guys recover and we'll make a call as they come through and get medically assessed.
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"We want to be very much open-minded. We don't want to sit there and say, 'listen here's the plan in place'. As we've found out, this is a season where you've got to consistently be flexible.
"It'll be exciting. I'm looking forward to it and our players are looking forward to the challenge. After a loss, there's no better place to be than back on the park in five days' time."
Richmond's side that lost to GWS on Friday night featured eight changes from the team that dismantled the Giants on Grand Final day last year, claiming the premiership on the back of an emphatic 89-point win.
However, the Tigers still had a host of opportunities to claim victory on enemy territory, controlling large portions of the contest to finish with more inside 50s (46-32) and scoring shots (20-17).
Hardwick said that while some of the issues his team encountered at Giants Stadium could be put down to inexperience and the lack of senior bodies like Cotchin, the team's depth players still needed to improve.
"The fact of the matter is we still want those guys that we've brought into the side to grow into their roles and we think they will," Hardwick said.
"They'll learn a lot from it. Those guys who are out of the side will be back at some stage, but they're not going to be back in a hurry. From our point of view, it'll all be about what we can do and what we can get better at.
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"What we will say is that our system held up. Time in forward-half, a heap more inside 50s … the game itself looked like a Richmond game. We just didn't execute to the level that we normally would.
"A lot of that can be put down to inexperience, but the vast majority can be put down to execution. We've got to get better."
