An excited Adem Yze has said it won't be long before Richmond can pick Taj Hotton again.

The 2024 pick No.12 played the final seven games of 2025 after recovering from the knee reconstruction he underwent early in his draft year, only to suffer another long-term injury on the eve of this season. Hotton has been sidelined since late February due to bone stress in his hip.

But after three months away from the main group, Hotton returned to full training on Wednesday ahead of Friday night's Dreamtime at the 'G clash.

There is a plan now in place for the 19-year-old to be available to play managed minutes at either level when Richmond returns from the bye in Round 14.

"Well, it's hard not to put a smile on my face. He started training yesterday," Yze told reporters on Thursday morning. 

"He's one of the guys that post-bye, he'll be available. He'll go through a block of training for the next month, and then post the bye, he'll be on managed minutes, whether that's at AFL level or VFL.

"He's in that crew that will start to become available post bye which is not only really exciting, but it's so cool for these young lads that have obviously dealt with what they've dealt with in the first part of the year.

"There's obviously a lot of footy to be played after the Sydney game. So he's going to be one of them."

Speaking ahead of the Dreamtime clash, Yze said Richmond would treat it like a final with the 1-9 Tigers facing a Bombers side with the same record.

"We always do and we don't want to shy away from the fact that while we're going through this rebuild, big games like this we have to build them up as if they're finals games," he said.

"For Noah Roberts-Thomson to play in front of a big crowd, and Tom Burton, when we do see the end of that and we start getting games into our players and we get back to finals, this will be a stepping stone for that.

"It's going to be a finals-like atmosphere and we need our players to get ready for that. It's all part of it. It's all part of belonging on an AFL field and dealing with the stress and anxiety of playing in front of a big crowd."