RICHMOND is likely to be bolstered by the inclusion of star duo Tom Lynch and Dion Prestia for Thursday night's season-opener against Carlton.
Both were absent from the Tigers' final practice match, with key forward Lynch battling a toe issue and midfielder Prestia sidelined by a hamstring complaint.
But captain Trent Cotchin on Monday indicated the pair will be fit to play as Richmond unfurl their 2019 and 2020 premiership flags in front of up to 50,000 fans at the MCG.
The Tigers have an almost clean bill of health, with Bachar Houli (calf) the only senior player ruled out at this stage.
MEDICAL ROOM The full AFL injury list
"(Lynch) has been humming around the track the last couple of weeks," Cotchin said.
"Both have trained really well this (last) week so I'd be surprised if either of them weren't fit to play on Thursday night.
"But we have another main session tomorrow, which is just another final tick of approval.
"We've been really lucky with regards to injury, and the guys are fighting fit and really looking forward to getting back out there and playing footy."
The AFL is still hopeful that the 50 per cent crowd cap may be raised by Victorian government authorities in the coming days.
The traditional season-opener attracted attendances of more than 85,000 at the start of the 2018 and 2019 seasons before the coronavirus pandemic saw the match played behind closed doors last year.
"We've sort of forgotten exactly how loud both of our crowds can be," Cotchin said.
"That will be incredibly exciting and the 'G, for whatever reason, always has that little bit of extra buzz and sends chills down the back of your spine."
Richmond has won their last 10 meetings with Carlton since going down in the 2013 elimination final.
"I don't think that means anything at all - this is a fresh season," Cotchin said.
"Carlton have improved significantly and played some really good footy last year.
"I can only imagine that they've done a mountain of work throughout the summer and we're really looking forward to that challenge."
