Grimes, who missed 10 weeks with a serious foot injury, played his first full game with Coburg last Sunday after playing half a game in the VFL reserves one week earlier.
Coach Damien Hardwick said Grimes, a member of the club's leadership group and an important third tall option in the backline, should be ready to return at AFL level in the next fortnight.
"He's certainly a player who we think will come in and make a contribution towards the end of the year," Hardwick said on Thursday.
"He's an important player to our side and he's got the ability to play tall or small, so we like his versatility.
"He's a leader of our footy club, so there's certainly a spot available for him.
"Ideally he plays another one to two and gets his touch back. He's such an important player, so there's certainly a spot for him."
Richmond will recall tall forward Ty Vickery for Saturday's clash at the MCG after his second serious concussion this season.
Hardwick was pleased with the form of ruckmen Orren Stephenson and Ivan Maric working in tandem last week but conceded there were selection issues to work through.
He said the Tigers would not rush small forward Jake King back into the side this week as he recovers from hamstring soreness.
The Lions have won four of their past five games and Hardwick said the Tigers would be on-guard against "one of the better form sides of the competition".
He challenged his players to consistently reproduce the form that saw them beat Hawthorn by 41 points in round 19.
"We always thought we were capable of playing that style of footy, the challenge for our group going forward is the consistency," he said.
"Our best is good enough. We know that.
"It's been a long journey thus far and it's been an enjoyable journey, but there's no ceiling on where we want to finish.
"That's the challenge to our guys."
Nathan Schmook is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @AFL_Nathan
