Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has given their Dreamtime at the 'G opponents Essendon the highest of praise, saying they are playing like the Tigers.
In the flagship game of the AFL's indigenous round, the reigning premiers take on a resurgent Bombers outfit who are flying high after upsetting Geelong and Greater Western Sydney in recent weeks.
Key forward Jack Riewoldt is a certain starter after passing a concussion test on Thursday morning.
While much has been made of Richmond's pressure game, Hardwick says Essendon have been matching the Tigers in that department.
"They're playing a great brand of footy; the way they're playing the game it looks similar to us the way they go about it," Hardwick said.
"It's going to be a really good test for us. They're a form team."
The coach said there was no better place than Punt Road for his men to prepare for such an encounter.
"The good thing for us is that is we're training against one of the best teams in the competition - ourselves - on a weekly basis," he said.
"Our guys are used it, they know how to absorb it, so it excites us."
Ahead of each annual Dreamtime clash, players and officials have lunch with students from the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School (MITS), who have their classroom at the Tigers' headquarters.
Hardwick said Dreamtime was a Richmond highlight.
"We're very fortunate at our club to be part of a lot of big games, but this takes extra significance ... you only have to look at the indigenous players we have on our list," he said.
"Shane Edwards is a 200-game player, the significance of Maurice Rioli and what he meant to us, and what we do with our KGI Institute (Korin Gamadji Institute) is really important to the fabric of Richmond.
"We have a really good build-up with our week; with indigenous storytelling, we have some guest speakers come in, so we're really privileged to be a part of it."
While Riewoldt will lead the charge against the Bombers, backman Bachar Houli is likely to miss the next three games with his groin injury and return after the bye.
In more mixed injury news, defender Dylan Grimes (back) will return while exciting young small forward Daniel Rioli will play another VFL game.
The 21-year-old hasn't played senior football since breaking his left ankle in the grand final.
"He (Daniel) probably needs more football," Hardwick said.
"He's such an important player to our footy club and the way he plays ... he probably needs one more game at VFL level to make sure he gets through.
"He plays the game at such a high intensity we'd hate to put him in underdone, because the way he plays the game there's a chance of re-injuring himself."
