But that is what Richmond boss Damien Hardwick wants heading into the meeting with St Kilda on Sunday.

The contest at Etihad Stadium is the inaugural Maddie's Match, which will honour Nick Riewoldt's sister Maddie, who died earlier this year aged 26 due to aplastic anaemia – a rare bone marrow disease.

Maddie was also Richmond spearhead Jack Riewoldt's cousin.

Five dollars from every match ticket sold will go to the charity Maddie Riewoldt's Vision, which aims to raise funds, aid research and lift awareness in the fight against bone marrow failure syndromes.

Nick Riewoldt injured his calf against Greater Western Sydney on Sunday and is far from certain to line up in what promises to be one of the most important games of his career.

Hardwick said his thoughts and prayers were with the St Kilda skipper.

"It's obviously a special game for the Riewoldt family, and the football community comes [together] as one for these sorts of causes," Hardwick said at Punt Road on Thursday.

"It is one of those occasions where, Nick being such a prominent player within a side and [it being] such a special game, that you do hope he's available to play.

"Funnily enough, our thoughts and prayers are with him that he gets up to play in this significant game for him and the Riewoldt family, because he's such an important player."

Hardwick anticipated his star forward Jack Riewoldt would handle the emotion of the day.

"The Riewoldt family overall have been through a torrid time with the passing of Maddie. I think the journey was about three to four years and it may have been a little bit longer," Hardwick said.

"Jack, to his credit, has dealt with it well. Last year, when Maddie fought bravely for a period of time, he was pretty strong and resilient there and we expect the same Jack to front up this week, although it will be no doubt an emotional game for him."

Richmond's forward line will have a different look against the Saints, with Ben Griffiths (shoulder), Shane Edwards (broken leg) and Ty Vickery (suspension) all missing.

But the Tigers will regain No.1 ruckman Ivan Maric after suspension, and their lack of talls means back-up ruckman Shaun Hampson will keep his spot after impressing last round, in his first game in more than a year.

"We'll try the two rucks and see how that goes," Hardwick said. "We haven't really played it at various stages, but with our key-position stocks ... we've probably got an opportunity to see how it goes, and Ivan's played forward at various stages before and kicked goals."

Vickery copped a two-game suspension for his forceful block on Michael Jamison, which left the Carlton defender dazed and needing to be subbed out.

But Hardwick welcomed Vickery's aggressive football, saying the suspension was a small price to pay, and he implored his whole team to keep playing in that manner.

"We love the way Ty plays close to the line. Unfortunately, he's going to step over it every now and then, but we enjoy the fact he plays a physical, aggressive brand of footy – it's when he plays his best football," Hardwick said.

"We'll probably take the risk that at stages he will go over that line. We'd love him to be just a little bit under [the line] but the fact of the matter is those sort of players, the closer they are [to the line], the better they play."

In a boost for Richmond, Reece Conca will make his long-awaited competitive return from a hamstring injury in the VFL this weekend. He has not played since last year's elimination final loss to Port Adelaide.