JACK Riewoldt is a certain starter for round one despite tweaking his ankle late in Richmond's seven-point loss to Collingwood in their JLT Community Series hit-out in Moe on Saturday.
Riewoldt limped from the field after falling awkwardly on his left ankle in a marking contest and hobbled around in pain for several minutes before retreating to the interchange bench.
The star forward was moving freely after the game, without a bandage on his ankle, and coach Damien Hardwick said there was nothing to worry about.
"He was fine and he was trying to get back on in the end," Hardwick said.
"It was just a conservative approach by us.
"He came down awkwardly but we're not too worried by it."
Riewoldt was also reported for engaging in rough conduct for a late hit on Collingwood's Jackson Ramsay in the second quarter.
Hardwick scoffed when asked about the match-day report.
"I think he'll be OK. Anyway, moving on," Hardwick said.
Saturday's game against the Magpies marked Richmond's only loss of the pre-season after they defeated Adelaide and Port Adelaide in their earlier pre-season games.
Hardwick said he was content with the Tigers' preparation ahead of their season-opening showdown with Carlton on March 23.
"We're reasonably placed at this stage. We've still got a lot of work to do in a lot of areas, coaches will always say that," Hardwick said.
"But I think our players can walk away from the pre-season pretty happy with the pre-season they've had thus far, but we're looking forward to taking that into Thursday week.
Kamdyn McIntosh, Oleg Markov, Ben Lennon and Ivan Maric all played in a VFL practice match against the Western Bulldogs on Friday night, with the Tigers opting to get more minutes into those players via their reserves team after limited game time in the first two JLT matches.
Lennon's performance was particularly noteworthy, with the powerful forward booting seven goals to push his claims for round one.
Ben Griffiths, who had groin surgery in the off-season, was another Tiger who could have played against the Magpies and will be given every chance to prove his fitness for the game against the Blues.
"Once again we've got some good headaches to have," Hardwick said.
The Tigers have two spots available on the primary list, after they placed ruckman Shaun Hampson (back) on the long-term injury list, with rookies Jason Castagna, Mabior Chol and Ivan Soldo all pressing their claims.