A TOP-FOUR spot is on the line in Richmond's final home and away game of the season, and coach Damien Hardwick has one simple message – "we just have to win".
MATCH PREVIEW Tigers v Lions
Richmond is coming up against a rampaging Brisbane sitting in first position, with the combination of a loss and a Collingwood win over Essendon on Friday night set to consign the Tigers to fifth spot.
Last week's win over West Coast was Richmond's eighth straight victory. Picture: AFL Photos
When asked if he would be closely watching the match between the Magpies and Bombers closely, given the importance of the game, Hardwick had a surprising answer.
"I'll be watching with my six-pack of Mountain Goat and having a few beers," Hardwick said.
"I do enjoy Friday night footy and watching it, but I like to relax at the same time.
"But the fact of the matter is, we just have to win. That's Richmond footy at its best; we just worry about what we can control and get the job done and go from there."
Skipper Trent Cotchin is a "certain starter", and is expected to get through Friday's main training session unscathed after three weeks on the sidelines with his third hamstring injury this year.
"It's just important for him to get some match practice," Hardwick said.
"I'm not exactly sure how many games he's played, probably not to the level both he and I would like at this stage, but he's such an important player the way he plays."
Integral defender Dylan Grimes is also expected to be cleared to play after rolling his ankle in last week's last-gasp victory over West Coast.
"We're very confident he'll play. It's a testament to Dylan, he's a thorough professional, he would have been up icing around the clock, it's the sort of guy he is," Hardwick said.
"He's got his winery up there, and it'd be freezing in Woodend. He'd just stick his leg out the front door, I'd say."
We just have to win ... we just worry about what we can control and get the job done - Damien Hardwick
Ruckman Toby Nankervis is still battling groin/adductor soreness, stemming back to the injury that saw him miss 11 weeks earlier this year. He was a late withdrawal from the squad last week before the final team was named.
"We probably thought he was a little bit closer at the back-end of last week, but we're no closer to having a solution for it at this stage," Hardwick said.
"He's feeling better, but once again, he's a player who has missed a lot of footy. He's so important to how we want to structure up and how we want to play, so we need to get him back.
"We're fortunate next week the VFL has a game, with the first week of VFL finals, so hopefully he'll put his hand up to play that week.
"Toby's built for finals. He's physical, he's tough, he's hard. We're very fortunate this year that we are playing the two rucks, so we can do the ruck by committee and he can have lesser game time."
Kamdyn McIntosh, who has been a regular in the senior side on the wing until his omission five weeks ago, is in the squad of 26 after spending time in defence.
"When things aren't going as well as we'd like sometimes, we want to be able to flick his magnet around," Hardwick said.
"Kamdyn's got great size, great skill, great endurance so we wanted to improve his flexibility. Kamdyn is a great team player, so we spoke [that] it may be one step back to go two steps forward."
Hardwick said while Sydney Stack, who had ankle surgery on Monday night, hopes he'll be right for next week, the reality is the young star is only a small chance of returning this season and won't be risked.
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