THE KEEPER of the Tiger faith, the modern legend and the young gun had subtly different takes on Saturday's blockbuster between Richmond and Carlton.

But Neville Crowe, Matthew Richardson and Jack Riewoldt all reflected the growing excitement at Punt Rd as the club builds for its most important match since the 2001 finals series.

Richmond have billed the MCG game as "100G at the G" as they celebrate the centenary of their entry into the VFL/AFL.

The Tigers are coming off two wins and Carlton are determined to bounce back from Sunday's loss to Essendon, which cost them eighth spot on the ladder.

Crowe, who was controversially suspended before the 1967 grand final win over Geelong for striking Carlton great John Nicholls in the second semi-final, was introduced at Tuesday's media conference as "the senior of the club".

"There's a lot of grudging respect, I guess, between the two clubs and it will be good fun to go out there and have a crack at them," Crowe said of Richmond's arch-rivals.

The word "crack" was said out of the corner of Crowe's mouth, with feeling.

Crowe, a die-hard Tiger, was president from 1987-93 and was the face of their "Save Our Skins" campaign, when Richmond raised $1 million in 10 weeks.

Richardson is the current face of Tigerland and his form this year has meant "Richo-mania" has never been so strong.

The tall utility has been around too long and bled too much for his club, so he was a little more circumspect about Saturday's match.

Certainly, Richardson was keen to promote the blockbuster and urged the fans to attend, but the veteran player is acutely aware of not giving the opposition any potential ammunition.

"The players are probably taking it -- you know, the old cliche -- week by week, but that's all you can do," Richardson.

"The club, as a whole, has been building up for it all season."

The 'one game at a time' mantra made an amusing contrast with the effervescent Riewoldt, who made his debut last year.

As part of their introduction to Punt Rd, Riewoldt and other young players had a guided tour of the club museum from another Tigers legend, rover Dale Weightman.

"It's been more of a couple of weeks build-up for the younger guys," Riewoldt said.

"We knew if we won on the weekend, we could really set up a great spectacle for the club and the history and tradition."

Regardless of Saturday's result, Richardson admits he will be glad when it is over.

Richardson has played every game this season, plus the Hall Of Fame tribute match, and the old warhorse is eagerly awaiting the round 14 break.

"I haven't trained much lately, I'm hanging on by a thread for the bye, I'm pretty keen to have a weekend off," he said with a grin.

"But we've got one more game and it's a huge game, so I won't have any trouble coming up for that."