Richmond fans can expect to see the likes of midfield stars Trent Cotchin and Brett Deledio later in the pre-season competition, according to senior coach Damien Hardwick.

While Cotchin manages minor hamstring soreness, Deledio has been training strongly while he manages achilles soreness.

"At this time of year everyone's pushing the envelope with their players, trying to get them incredibly fit,” Hardwick told the media today.

“He'll (Cotchin) make his way into the side later in the NAB (Challenge) and (we're) looking forward to him having another great season as captain."

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Hardwick said Deledio could have played on Saturday, but the Club decided to use the opening pre-season game to blood its younger players.

"It's just a management issue (for Deledio)," Hardwick said.

"We sort of knew from obviously the data we established last year that it was always going to be a situation where he could probably only train twice a week. He'll manage that for the rest of his career.

"It's just really important that Brett gets on track and plays games. That's why we're managing (the) early part of his year. 

"He's well and truly up and going. He's in full training now for those two (weekly) sessions and we're excited about the season he's going to have.

Hardwick said the Tigers would go in with a young side against the Bulldogs and would filter their more establish players back into the line-up in their second and third pre-season fixtures.

"It's going to be a great opportunity for our fans to get down and see the majority of our one-to-four-year players, which I'm really excited about," he said.

"Every draft pick from last year will be lining up apart from Corey Ellis (foot), so it's a good opportunity for our fans to see the young talent coming through."

The AFL has encouraged fans to pre-purchase tickets to guarantee entry and also arrive early to avoid queues before Saturday's 4.40pm clash at Whitten Oval.

Purchase your tickets here


Brett Deledio at Richmond training earlier this week (picture: Matt Johnson)