PREMIERSHIP forward Dan Butler has run out of time to press his case for Thursday night's clash with Hawthorn, with Richmond deciding he won't play at any level this weekend.
However, coach Damien Hardwick confirmed the Tigers would be bolstered by the return of midfielder Kane Lambert for the qualifying final at the MCG.
Butler hasn't played an AFL match since round 16 because of an ankle injury, but did play a half of a VFL qualifying final on Saturday night.
Hardwick said Butler would train this weekend instead of playing in the Tigers' VFL semi-final against Essendon on Saturday, in a bid to boost his fitness.
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"He tried to put his hand up but he just wasn't quite responding the way we'd like," Hardwick said.
"We think we'll just pull him back a little bit and get a bit of training into him just to get the injury 100 per cent.
"We'll give him another week, he's still got some time, he's an important player for us and provided we play to our level of expectation, he's got some time to get back."
The Tigers completed a short captain's run at Punt Road on Wednesday morning, with Ryan Garthwaite, Sam Lloyd and Connor Menadue part of the extended squad.
Lambert trained and will be named on Wednesday night after last playing in round 21.
"He'll come in ready to go," Hardwick said.
"It's pleasing for us, he's such an important player to the way we play and it's a great turnaround, he's certainly been very diligent in his rehab and recovery.
"He's a certain starter."
The tactical battle between close friends Hardwick and Alastair Clarkson is set to be fascinating on Thursday night with the Hawks weighing up the inclusion of James Sicily, Daniel Howe and potentially Jon Ceglar, in what would be a bid to stretch the Tigers in the ruck.
Contact between the two families has been minimal this week and Hardwick uttered an emphatic "no" when asked if their wives – Danielle and Caryn – would be permitted to watch the game together.
Clarkson did admit to picking up Hardwick's daughter from basketball training on Tuesday night but that's as far it's gone between the two households in the lead-up to the game.
They might know each other well, but Hardwick said there was no predicting exactly what the Hawks would throw up on Thursday.
"We're under no illusions we're certainly going to have a set of circumstances that are going to present themselves on the weekend that are going to be a little bit different," he said.
"That's why he's such a great coach.
"I can't answer for him but 80 per cent of what Hawthorn do, we're probably going to know – 20 per cent is always the unknown.
"We can prepare for the 20 or we can prepare for the 80 … I think we'll just prepare for the 80 and we'll deal with the 20.
"We certainly believe that our process is pretty strong, once again, if we back ourselves in with what we do, we're going to be really hard to beat."
The Tigers are top of the table when it comes to intercept possessions but are narrowly second-last to St Kilda in clearances.
Hardwick said they had made a point over the last two weeks of managing the way they approached the stoppages after identifying a key reason why they're so lowly ranked in that area.
"We're AFL 18th for free kicks - the reality is, we're giving away a lot of free kicks at stoppages and that's why we're losing them," he said.
"We've just got to be a little bit more careful with our aggression around the ball, and that way the ball will start going our way.
"We're certainly aware of that, our game is a turnover game, we acknowledge that, we accept that and most sides know that.
"Once again, the way we set the game up will be certainly turnover-based – most scores in the AFL are off turnover, not clearance, so we'll continue to play the percentages in that."
