RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has ruled out important pair Brett Deledio and Ivan Maric for Friday night's clash against Collingwood at the MCG.

And both could be looking at VFL returns in the coming weeks after extended periods out of full training.

Deledio was sidelined after NAB 3 with a quadricep injury, while Maric was restricted going into round one by a back problem.

Hardwick also confirmed Shane Edwards would miss round two with a fractured hand, with Ben Lennon and Taylor Hunt looming as likely replacements for the classy half-forward.

In better news, midfielder Shaun Grigg trained with the main group on Thursday and will face the Magpies after missing the season opener with a thumb injury. 

Hardwick said Deledio could struggle to return in round three, given his only half of football this year came in the final round of the NAB Challenge.

"I'd like to say he'll play next week, but then he hasn't played football, he's only played a half over the course of the pre-season.

"We don't have the luxury of the sub, which in my opinion is a good thing. But it probably goes against Brett.

"The problem is when he's kicking, he's still got some acute pain so we've just got to make sure we don't push him and when he comes back he's right.

"We'll wait and see. He might play his first VFL game."

Hardwick stressed Deledio had not suffered any setback and was running at full speed. 

His problem remains kicking, which he will need to build up slowly after only taking part in short kicking work this week.

Brandon Ellis is set to return to the midfield against Collingwood after being moved to half-back against Carlton to cover the Tigers' spate of injuries in that part of the ground.

With Chris Yarran (foot) and Reece Conca (hamstring) both sidelined for at least five weeks each, Hardwick said the club was on the lookout for a player to become a "weapon" in that position.

"We tried (Ellis) down back and he probably wasn't that great and we threw him back in the midfield and across the wing and he played a lot better," the coach said. 

"It's a position we're still looking to fill at this stage, but we'll trial a few other things this week to see how we can get that working for us.

"We're looking for someone to solidify in that position for us."