Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is warning fans not to expect the Tigers to bounce straight back to their best despite the return of some key personnel.
Big names Trent Cotchin, Shane Edwards and Kane Lambert will return from injury against St Kilda on Sunday at Marvel Stadium, while Jayden Short is back in the mix for the first time since round three.
Their recovery couldn’t have come soon enough with the Tigers dropping to ninth on the back of three successive losses.
Richmond only have four players who have played every game this season and Hardwick cautioned on Friday it could take a little time for the renewed connections to gel.
“You look at the sides who are at the very, very top – they’ve had a great connection and a lot of their players have played together for a sustained period,” Hardwick said.
“We probably haven’t had that, we’ve been filling gaps along the way.
“The guys have hung tough for the vast majority, but it probably came to a tipping point in the last couple of weeks.
“Those guys coming back, they’re not going to solve the problem straight away.
“It’s all good to have names back, but the reality is on-field we need to make sure we connect heavily.”
Short hasn’t played since suffering a serious elbow injury in round three but Hardwick said the half-back flanker’s training form couldn’t be ignored.
“We had some match practice and he was a stand-out for us so he’ll certainly put his hand up to play,” he said.
“Do we play him in the VFL? That’s a possibility, but it’s also possible he’ll play seniors because he’s such a valuable player for us.
“He also allows me to move some magnets around.
“The pieces of the puzzle are starting to come back together.”
Hardwick said star full-forward Jack Riewoldt was likely to also miss next round’s clash with Gold Coast and return against GWS.