Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is uncertain whether key talls Ivan Maric and Ty Vickery will be available for this week’s match against Port Adelaide, after both suffered injuries against Geelong on Saturday night.

The loss of the two ruckmen to injury in two frenetic minutes early in the third quarter against the Cats was enough to throw the Tigers’ structure out.

Maric left the ground with an injured leg, and had barely crossed the boundary line when Vickery was seeing stars in the centre circle after clashing heads with Steve Johnson.

Sign up as a Richmond member in 2013 and help the Club reach its target of 60,000.

Hardwick said they did not know whether either player would return to the field – Vickery was eventually subbed off with concussion and Maric was limited after coming back on – and were making decisions at a rapid rate.

It saw them in the situation of having to rob Peter to pay Paul.  

“When we lost Tyrone and Ivan straight away, our forward structure went completely out the window,” Hardwick said.

"[It] just compounded problems all over the ground. [We were] constantly trying to chase our tail."

Hardwick also bemoaned some uncharacteristic errors in defence that cost the team goals.

"They are the sort of mistakes that the good sides make you make, but we have to eradicate," Hardwick said.

"[It's] probably unlike us for the majority of the year so we just have to make sure we iron those out, regroup and restock and get better."

Although disappointed with the result, he said injuries led to the margin blowing out and the players would remain positive.

"We're three and three. We're in the pack. Those sides, particularly Geelong, have shown us the level we have got to play at," Hardwick said.

On the bright side, Hardwick said Nathan Foley was close to making a return after playing a full game for Coburg in the VFL on the weekend.