RICHMOND forward Ben Griffiths will be sidelined for up to three weeks after having minor surgery on his shoulder.

Griffiths injured his shoulder in the third quarter of Saturday's win against Greater Western Sydney and was subbed out of the game not long after.

The 23-year-old has had a minor clean-up of his injured shoulder and the club expects him to miss between two and three weeks.

Griffiths' absence causes some headaches for the sixth-placed Tigers ahead of their clash with Carlton at the MCG on Friday night, with ruckman Ivan Maric (one-week suspension) also missing.

The Tigers are tossing up whether to bring Shaun Hampson in for his first game of the season or to have Ty Vickery ruck solo against the Blues pairing of Matthew Kreuzer and Cameron Wood.

Richmond veteran Chris Newman said he was unsure which way Damien Hardwick and his match committee were leaning, but backed Hampson to have an impact if selected.

"He's been playing some really good football in the VFL so he'll no doubt be putting his hand up," Newman said.

Griffiths has kicked 12 goals in 11 games for the Tigers this season to prove himself as a versatile option up forward.

Richmond was unable to comment when contacted by AFL.com.au.