RICHMOND star defender Nick Vlastuin is in line to return this week from the hamstring injury that has hindered his season so far as the Tigers got back to their high-pressure best against the Western Bulldogs.

The Tigers levelled their season at 2-2 with a strong win over the Grand Finalists on Saturday night and could regain Vlastuin for this week's trip to Adelaide Oval to face the Crows.

Vlastuin hasn't played yet this season after battling the nagging hamstring concern but the Tigers have been eyeing round five as his return date for several weeks and coach Damien Hardwick said post-game that the triple premiership defender was a "probable" inclusion and could come straight back into the team. 

"He has missed some footy so we'll go through that. He's probable at this stage, he's obviously got to get through training, but he'll be important for us," he said. 

Nick Vlastuin runs laps at a Richmond training session on March 24, 2022. Picture: Getty Images/AFL Photos

It would see Richmond's unavailability list shorten to Dylan Grimes (hamstring) and Dustin Martin (personal leave), while Kane Lambert played reduced game time at VFL level on Saturday after returning from his troublesome hip injury and had 15 disposals.

Key forward Tom Lynch was important for the Tigers in their win over the Dogs with four goals and said a focus had been getting back to their high-pressure form after dropping two games in the opening three rounds. 

"They've been a great side for a long period of time and we knew we had to be at our best to try and match them. We focused on bringing that pressure as they've got elite ball-users all over the ground. At times they got away from us but we stuck at it and managed to turn it our way," Lynch told AFL.com.au. 

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Lynch caps off terrific Tiger team footy

Richmond's Tom Lynch kicks a composed goal after Cotchin and Balta brilliance on wing

Published on Apr 9, 2022

The Tigers set up a 24-point lead at three-quarter time against the Dogs and were no chance of letting it slip after final-quarter fadeouts against Carlton in round one and St Kilda in round three. 

"Last week and round one we played some pretty good footy, three quarters we felt like, and we dropped away in the last quarters when the opposition got a hold of us and we didn't capitalise on our opportunities, which was the game.

"We spoke about it during the week that we were playing OK footy, we weren't playing as bad as the results were but we lost to two good teams in St Kilda and Carlton so we knew we'd played some pretty good opposition," Lynch said.

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Lynch enjoyed his best game of the season, taking his season goal tally to 10 from four games, combining with Jack Riewoldt, who booted two goals in his return from a broken thumb. 

"I managed to get up and get on the end of a couple. I thought it was good, I was going at the footy alright and using my body and contest and if I didn't mark it I brought it to ground which is my job," Lynch said.