COACH Damien Hardwick remains confident the tide will turn for Richmond as the Tigers attempt to push past a form slump and extensive injury list.

Sunday's clash with Collingwood at the MCG is a must-win with Richmond sitting ninth after three losses on the bounce and unable to call on the likes of Shane Edwards, Dion Prestia, Bachar Houli, Kane Lambert, Noah Balta, Nathan Broad and Callum Coleman-Jones.

Despite suffering a shock loss to Gold Coast, Hardwick was confident the premiers would yet reap the rewards of the "challenging conversations" they'd had internally last week.

"We're about the journey. For us, those challenging conversations, we always talk about a lag effect," he said.

"They don't necessarily change in one week - it might take two, three or four.

"We're hoping it comes sooner rather than later. But the fact of the matter is we've got a really good understanding of when we play our best footy, what it looks like - we've just got to find that within ourselves.

"Confidence is an amazing thing in AFL footy - you can sometimes lose it really quickly, but you can also regain it with the flick of the switch."

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Hardwick said Richmond needed to fix its trademark turnover game but also improve its clearance work, with Toby Nankervis' return from injury set to provide much-needed impetus at stoppages.

"He's a quality ruckman," Hardwick said.

"We've been really happy with what (Mabior Chol) and (Coleman-Jones) have brought to the table but when you've got Toby Nankervis out of your side, there's 10 contested balls (you're not winning where) the ball starts going your way."

Meanwhile, Sydney Stack is a chance to play his first game since round 13, 2020.

The 21-year-old's 2020 season ended when he and Coleman-Jones received 10-game suspensions and were kicked out of the AFL's Queensland hub for breaching COVID-19 protocols after attending a strip club then being involved in a fight outside a kebab shop.

Stack then spent three weeks, including Christmas, behind bars after being caught in Northbridge during his compulsory self-isolation period in Western Australia - and didn't return to Richmond until late March.

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"He's really impressed, how he's gone about it," Hardwick said.

"Obviously he started a little bit behind the eight-ball but his fitness has really picked up and he's starting to see the form that we know Sydney can play with."

The Tigers face a call on whether mid-season recruit Matt Parker will debut, while Daniel Rioli has impressed at VFL level in his new role off half-back.

Hardwick was optimistic Edwards (ankle) would miss just one week.