RICHMOND will look at how it was brought undone by North Melbourne's defensive tactics two weeks ago when planning for Ross Lyon's Fremantle this weekend.

The Kangaroos beat the Tigers by 62 points after putting players behind the ball while their defenders blanketed the Richmond's forwards.

Hardwick said the Tigers' would take lessons out of both the Roos' loss and last week's win over Gold Coast, which was a highly contested game - another trait of the fifth-placed Dockers.

"Defensively we weren't happy. We still had 30 shots on goal versus North Melbourne so offensively it wasn't a concern but defensively we gave up 33," Hardwick said.

"Good sides don't give up 30 shots on goal and that's what we generally hang our hat on. Last week I think we gave up 13, 14.

"We were really disappointed with the defensive aspect of our game from that game - we certainly leaned a few things and it was a good kick in backside so defensively we'll be in a better mindset this weekend.

"North Melbourne are like a slingshot type of side as similar to Fremantle so we certainly get a look at that also … we've learned a couple of lessons over the last couple of weeks."

Hardwick also said the Tigers would look to reduce the impact of some of the Dockers' backmen who are renowned for using the ball well out of defence.

"They're a good back half using side. Guys like Johnson, Duffield if he comes back in, these players can set up their play really well ... Ibbotson is a guy that probably gets under the guard of a lot of opposition sides," he said.

"We'll be putting some work into those players because I think they start a lot of their offensive counter-attacks through those guys.

"They're really good players - we've just got to make sure we have their measures."

Bachar Houli trained on Thursday and will return from a two-week hamstring while Ivan Maric pulled up well from his first game back from a groin injury last week against Gold Coast.

Shane Tuck is in the mix after two games back in the VFL.