RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick is expecting to play shorter quarters against Carlton on Thursday night, if the game goes ahead amid the coronavirus outbreak. 

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The season has already been condensed to 17 matches but has not yet been re-fixtured. There is a chance clubs will need to play games off shorter breaks as a consequence.

"We're probably one of the clubs, with the condensing of the season, who wanted more players on the bench, but I think that's been knocked on the head and there'll only be 22 players," Hardwick told reporters in a press conference conducted remotely via an app.

"Quarters will be shorter, it'll be 16 and a half minutes, plus time-on, I think at this stage.

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"That's not to say the rules won't change along the way. I think Steve (Hocking) and his team are very good and very adaptable at that, so we'll take it as we see it.

"Once again, it's an extraordinary set of circumstances we're in, but we've got some people in charge who will make some really good decisions if they need to."

The AFL is yet to confirm if indeed round one will go ahead, leaving Richmond and Carlton in a weird situation, preparing for a game that may not even happen as scheduled.

If it does go ahead, it will be played in front of an empty stadium as a result of the federal government's rules around mass gatherings.

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"We're planning as if it is (on). We can only control what we can control, and as far as we're concerned we're playing tomorrow night. Hopefully round one gets underway. The players are keen to play, as are the coaches," Hardwick said. 

"The game doesn't change. The ground's the same, there's umpires, there's players. The (lack of) crowd will certainly have an impact from an atmosphere point of view, but it's nothing we can control, so the guys will just bring their best footy.

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"We know if we play our best footy, we're a good chance of winning."

Hardwick confirmed All-Australian defender Bachar Houli is the only Tiger on the club's injury list, with Kane Lambert (concussion), Jack Graham (shoulder), Toby Nankervis (groin) and Kamdyn McIntosh (ankle) all available for selection.

"It's relatively minor, but he'll probably be doubtful for next week," Hardwick said of Houli.

"We're not too sure, at this stage he'd be doubtful, but it's not catastrophic by any means.

"It was just one of those ones that caught him off guard. It wasn't a massive pull ... we're really happy it was in the soleus (a muscle in the calf), so it's going to be a quick heal we feel."

The Tigers have an intriguing selection battle ahead in regard to their rucks, with Ivan Soldo, Toby Nankervis and the promising Callum Coleman-Jones all putting their hands up for selection.

"[Coleman-Jones is] seriously in the mix, he's a wonderful young player. I think he's just turned 21, he's an incredible talent and he's going to be a very good player for us for a long time.

"We have to sit there and figure out how we can get this kid into the side … along with Soldo and Nankervis, whether it's a rotating basis, we're not sure. I'm very lucky to have three very good ruckmen at my disposal."