Richmond star Brett Deledio will captain the Tigers in his first Pre-season Challenge game this year, this weekend against Port Adelaide.

Deledio will be one of a host of senior Tigers who will play their first pre-season game against the Power in Albury on Saturday.   

Coach Damien Hardwick said the 27-year-old would be managed for the rest of his career because of an Achilles injury that sidelined him early last year.

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However, Deledio is ready to play in an expanded forward role against the Power after successfully making the transition to attack last season.

"His back end of the year last year when we moved him forward was outstanding and we're looking forward to that continuing in NAB Challenge game two and also in the regular season," Hardwick said on Thursday.

"He'll always be a management issue going forward, [and] he'll only train once, maybe twice a week at various stages.

"From our point of view, Brett is ready to go. He's been in good form over the course of the pre-season."

Captain Trent Cotchin has also been managed for hamstring soreness and trained away from the main group on Thursday, alongside Ben Griffiths and Nathan Foley, who recently had foot surgery.

Hardwick said Cotchin and Griffiths were both likely to play in the Tigers' last pre-season game, against North Melbourne on March 21.

"He (Cotchin) could possibly play this week, but from our point of view it's risk management," the coach said.

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"He'll possibly play some minutes in NAB Challenge game three and go into round one primed.

"We don’t take any chances with players at this time of the year."