RICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin is set to return for Monday night's clash against Gold Coast at the Gabba after he was managed in last week's loss to Port Adelaide.

But Tiger fans will have to wait another week before seeing star defender Bachar Houli back in action.

"Bachar won't play this week, we made a conservative call with regard to his preparation," coach Damien Hardwick said on Sunday morning.

"He had the two weeks in the iso hub with not a lot of ground to work with.

"He'll make the trip up to Darwin but not so this week."

Ruckman Toby Nankervis could also return for the round 13 clash against Essendon, but Dion Prestia is still some way off as each recover from ankle syndesmosis injuries.

"Nankervis is on track probably to play some game time for the Essendon game," Hardwick said.

"Dion is a little bit slower at this stage.

"He is on weight-bearing at the moment, but once again it's a pretty slow approach with Dion at this stage so it won't be in the next couple of weeks."

Tall defender David Astbury is battling a knee injury but could be a chance to come back later in the season.

"Still a little bit slow, he hasn't done any training at this stage," Hardwick said of Astbury's recovery timeline.

"He's probably a couple of weeks away still."

Shane Edwards stayed home for the birth of his child, but Hardwick is hopeful the star midfielder could join the group early next month.

"Great news for the Tiger faithful, Shane and Sam had a baby girl, Mya," Hardwick said.

"We'd love for him to be up on that plane on September 1 or September 3 or whenever that is."