RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has declared his Tigers ready to match a resurgent Adelaide on Friday night, saying they must embrace lessons learnt from their round two loss to their 2017 Grand Final opponents.
Wary of the way the Crows emerged from a four-match losing streak last week against West Coast, Hardwick said the Tigers were preparing for Adelaide's best given the recent return of key players Rory Sloane, Rory Laird and Luke Brown.
The Crows are also poised to regain forward Tom Lynch for the MCG clash.
"The Adelaide of four weeks ago is not the Adelaide side that you saw last week or the side you're going to see this week," Hardwick said on Thursday.
"I think we know how they play. The side that we played in round two is pretty much the side we'll be playing this week as well.
"They gave us a real touch-up around the contested ball, their games are always highly contested and that's the way they play, and we're looking to embrace that and challenge ourselves a little bit more in that part of the game this time as compared to last time.
"We've got a really good read of how they play and how they want to play, and getting those players back allows them to play that way."
The Tigers will make two changes, with Reece Conca out with a dislocated ankle and Nick Vlastuin suspended.
Conca was at the club again on Thursday and on crutches but has already discarded his moon boot as he looks towards playing again later this season.
Trent Cotchin trained and will play, despite hurting his knee against the Swans.
Alex Rance also trained strongly as he looks ahead to another match up with Crows' forward Josh Jenkins, who kicked four goals against him in the first half, and five for the game, in round two.
Hardwick said Jenkins' performance then, and that of Taylor Walker, who kicked four goals, reflected the Tigers' lack of pressure.
"[Jenkins] was terrific last time, he and 'Tex' had a significant impact on the game," Hardwick said.
"We look forward to our overall team defence having a better result this week versus them.
"Quality players at stages will jump up and perform … but we're very confident with our defenders they'll be able to get the job done.
"Alex is one of the best players I've ever seen, so I expect him to have a really good game this week."
Corey Ellis, Shai Bolton, Sam Lloyd, Callum Moore, Ryan Garthwaite and Connor Menadue trained as part of the extended squad on Thursday.
Premiership defender Bachar Houli didn't train with the team, but Hardwick said he was expected to come straight into the side next week to face Greater Western Sydney.
Houli hasn't played since hurting his groin against Essendon in round 10.
