Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has warned against being too focused on Gary Ablett in the season opener against Gold Coast.

As expected, Daniel Jackson, the Tigers' best and fairest winner – and the most likely match-up for Ablett - will miss Saturday night's away match because of an interrupted pre-season.

Hardwick hopes Jackson will be ready for the round-two blockbuster against Carlton.

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While Richmond has to work out a new plan for the dual Brownlow medallist, Hardwick said the developing Suns had plenty of ways to hurt the Tigers in and around the stoppages.

Hardwick pointed to Michael Rischitelli, Jaegar O'Meara, Dion Prestia and Harley Bennell as midfielders who warranted respect.

"The danger with looking too much at Gary is you underestimate the other players in their side," he said.

"You can manage to try and put all your eggs in one basket with Gary or actually realise that their midfield overall is a very solid unit that is capable of winning some footy games."

Hardwick added there is no guaranteed way to plan for Ablett.

"We've thought about a lot of options for Gary Ablett," he said.

"He's a fantastic player and the thing you assume with Gary, he's going to get his 25-30 touches anyway.

"It's whether we go ... with a defensive-minded player on him and try and limit him by two or three possessions or we try and attack him the other way."

Hardwick was confident that Jackson would only miss the round-one match.

"He's a little bit off, so he'll get a couple of weeks of training under his belt and then we'll look to bring him back for round two," he said.