THE MAKE-UP of Richmond's team is in doubt, with several players carrying niggles and Troy Chaplin and Connor Menadue flying to Tasmania ahead of the Friday night clash with North Melbourne.
Menadue was omitted from the side that played Essendon last week while Chaplin missed the game with a hip injury.
Tigers coach Damien Hardwick said a training session at Blundstone Arena would determine the 22 to take on the Kangaroos.
"We'll have a session today. We've still got … a few guys that are a little bit sore," Hardwick said at Melbourne Airport on Thursday.
"We'll see how they pull up at training today."
Richmond has struggled in recent times against the Kangaroos, winning only one of its past seven games.
That 41-point victory came in round 23 last year, when North made nine changes to its side.
The tactic to rest players worked, with Brad Scott's men defeating the Tigers by 17 points in the following week's elimination final.
Hardwick said stopping North's talls in attack would be the key for his team.
"The big one for us is their key forwards have probably been dominant in various stages – not all of them, but one has probably grabbed hold of us at different stages," Hardwick said.
In that final last season, Jarrad Waite booted four goals, and his form in 2016 is the best of his career, sitting fourth in the competition for goals, goal assists and marks inside 50.
Drew Petrie and Ben Brown have complemented him excellently, combining for 31 goals.
Herdwick said North Melbourne dominance against the Tigers was not as overwhelming as it seemed.
"Our games have been relatively close. It's probably been three or four goals every time," he said.
"We just haven't been quite able to bridge that gap."
It looms as a crucial match for Richmond's finals hopes, having won three consecutive matches to sit 4-6.