Richmond AFL coach Damien Hardwick is warning fans not to expect the Tigers to bounce straight back to their best despite the return of some key personnel.
Taking on St Kilda on Sunday afternoon at Marvel Stadium, the Tigers have been bolstered by the return of seven players including skipper Trent Cotchin.
He has recovered from general soreness, while previous stand-in skipper Shane Edwards, David Astbury (both hamstring), Kane Lambert (achilles), Jayden Short (elbow) and Ivan Soldo (illness) have all been included.
In addition to the six players off the injury list, Shai Bolton returns to the side after starring in the VFL, finishing with 36 disposals, nine clearances, five tackles and a goal in their recent win over Coburg.
Daniel Butler, Jack Higgins, Connor Menadue, Noah Balta, Ryan Garthwaite, Patrick Naish and Liam Baker have all been omitted.
The premiership reinforcements couldn't have come soon enough with the Tigers dropping to ninth on the back of three-successive losses.
Richmond have four players who have contested every game this season. Hardwick cautioned on Friday it might take a little time for the renewed connections to gel.
"You look at the sides who are at the very, very top - they've had a great connection and a lot of their players have played together for a sustained period," Hardwick said.
"We probably haven't had that. We've been filling gaps along the way.
"The guys have hung tough for the vast majority, but it probably came to a tipping point in the last couple of weeks.
"Those guys coming back, they're not going to solve the problem straight away.
"It's all good to have names back, but the reality is, on field, we need to make sure we connect heavily."
Short hasn't played since suffering a serious elbow injury in round three but Hardwick says the half-back flanker's training form can't be ignored.
"We had some match practice and he was a standout for us," he said.
"He also allows me to move some magnets around.
"The pieces of the puzzle are starting to come back together."
Hardwick said star full-forward Jack Riewoldt was likely to also miss next round's clash with Gold Coast and return against GWS.
