He had played a big part in Fremantle’s thrilling five-point win over the Eagles with a vital last-quarter goal before injury struck.

Ruffles’ inclusion is one of three changes for the match against the Tigers, with Nick Suban and Clancee Pearce also recalled.

Suban played for his WAFL club Claremont last week in his first game since an ankle injury, while Pearce has been in good form for Swan Districts.

Michael Barlow is out for the season with a broken leg he suffered against Port Adelaide on the weekend.

The mature-age recruit was not the only casualty from the bruising round 14 encounter with the Power.

Rookie Nat Fyfe will miss with concussion and key defender Antoni Grover is out with a hamstring injury.

Fremantle senior coach Mark Harvey said Ruffles had ticked all the boxes for a return to elite competition.

“He’s been playing WAFL for about 10 weeks, and it would be nearly 12 months since he had his knee reconstruction,” Harvey said.

“He played really well last week and, at some stage, we’d like to see how he and (Hayden) Ballantyne go in the forward line together.”

Chris Tarrant could not be considered because of injury, and with key defenders Grover and Luke McPharlin missing, Fremantle’s undermanned backline faces the difficult task of stopping the AFL’s form forward, Jack Riewoldt.

The young Tiger leads the Coleman Medal race with 53 goals, which includes a bag of 10 against West Coast in round 12.

Harvey said, on current form, Riewoldt was the best forward in the competition, and that the onus of curbing his influence did not sit solely on Fremantle’s defenders.

“We’ve got Michael Johnson, (Adam ) McPhee and (Alex) Silvagni that can play in that area, but it’s what you do before the ball comes down that’s more important... how much pressure you can put on up the field,” he said.

The match against the Tigers at Etihad Stadium will be Fremantle’s second of four consecutive away games at the ground, prompting Harvey to label the venue as an advantage to his side.

“Richmond’s only played once at Etihad Stadium this season and we’ve played there five times already,” he said.

“It’s our second home ground. I think we’ve adapted really well to playing there.”

The Saturday night encounter will also be the 150th game for Freo ruckman Aaron Sandilands.

Sandilands said he was very proud to have reached the milestone after being elevated from Fremantle’s rookie list in 2003.

“It’s great to be able to make the 150-game mark,” he said.

“I’m really happy and I thank the club for giving me the opportunity to play 150 games.”

Sandilands said one of the more memorable moments of his career was his first AFL game against Adelaide at Football Park in round 1, 2003.

“It was Wayne Carey’s first game for Adelaide and the Adelaide fans were swinging from the rafters,” he said.

“I think they got us by about seven or eight goals so I’ll never forget it.”

Sandilands said there had been no specific reason why his game had improved to the level of being considered an elite player in the AFL.

“I think after a few years in the system you learn the game and become more comfortable in the game,” he said. “It just took a lot of time to get to that point.”

And, despite his excellent form this year, he was not prepared to rate 2010 as his best season just yet.

“We’re only half-way through the season so it’s pretty hard to judge if this is your best season,” he said.

“It’s something that you have to look back on at the end of the year to rate how you go.”