Hardwick said he hoped the two could embark on a strong rivalry over the coming years.
"It would be nice if it was (a rivalry). Melbourne is going to be a very good side come the future and they are starting to progress really well now," Hardwick said on Thursday morning.
"Like us they've gone through similar guidelines drafting through youth an they're starting to play those players. This will be a great game on Sunday, one we're looking forward to and they're one of the form teams of the competition at the moment."
Richmond could go into Sunday’s clash with Melbourne with no changes to the team that defeated Adelaide last week.
Hardwick said while some players were pushing for selection, it was hard to find any vacancies in the team.
“(Andrew) Collins comes back into the mix as does Ty Vickery and there are some other guys. Dave Gourdis has played really well at Coburg again,” Hardwick said on Thursday.
“We are wanting to get guys into the side but it is a good situation to be in because the guys in the side have played well. There will be limited changes this week if any.”
Harwick would not be drawn on Ben Cousins’ future with the club as the season draws to a close but said he had no concerns with the documentary detailing his recovery from drug abuse.
The warts and all account of Cousins’ rehabilitation could be aired soon and Hardwick said he hoped it would have a positive effect.
“I haven’t seen it but I’ve heard it’s very confronting. The thing about a documentary is if one person learns one thing from it, I reckon it would be a documentary well worth doing,” he said.
“It is something that we at some stage would like to show our playing group.”
