Richmond coach Adem Yze has indicated Sam Cumming is set for midfield exposure on Sunday against St Kilda.
The coach reaffirmed his stance that the hardships of the club's current lack of availability won't cause the club to overexert the young players, however, the absences have opened up opportunity.
Cumming attended 74 percent of centre ball-ups against West Coast a fortnight ago to help the Tigers to victory, but has attended 36 and 15 per cent in his other two games.
Seth Campbell is another player they're keen to get midfield minutes into, with Kane McAullife's exclusion from the side with Achilles soreness providing opportunity.
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"We'll keep giving him that (midfield) exposure," Yze said of Cumming.
"We understand (Sam's) a terrific inside mid but he's hit the scoreboard in each game he's played so we know what he can go forward as well.
"He's that type of player who can have high impact in the midfield and forward so we're trying to grow both parts of his game so the opportunity to play midfield will be higher this week so you'll see that exposure this week.
"Now that Prestia's out, we can get younger guys in there and some speed through there. We tried Sam Grlj earlier in the year. We want some exposure for our younger lads but at the same time our stoppage numbers have improved over the last month so our leaders in there have provided a contest."
Yze also confirmed that Kaleb Smith is fit for this weekend, so all members of the Tigers squad to face St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday are available.
The fight shown against Adelaide was drawn on as a positive in the review this week as the Tigers look to remain positive amid the injury crisis.
The impending debut of first year player Noah Roberts-Thomson has also been a source of excitement off the back of a strong game at VFL level against Williamstown, finishing with 18 disposals and a goal.
"The spirit always seems to lift when you get a first gamer playing so a great opportunity for Noah Roberts-Thomson to come into our team," Yze said.
"He's a highly talented little forward, he can come up to stoppage and help out.
"He played midfield at VFL last week, a left footer and he was knocking on the door early in the season. Last week he played really well and with the opportunities we've got at the moment that has presented itself, he gets a chance to start his AFL career this week against the Saints.
"He's been working closely with Luke Breust so some of his crumbing techniques and smarts around goal, hopefully we can see that at Marvel on Sunday."
Patrick Retschko has been a positive across the past month with his running power and compliance to role on the wing after being a cheap as chips pickup in the trade period.
"The fact he can play high minutes especially given what we're going through right now with availability, for him to run out games the way he is with high endurance and speed and getting a lot of the footy - we knew what we had when we brought him into the building but to see him do that straight away has been a credit to him," Yze said.
"He works so hard on his game, he'll be the last to leave the track, the boys love him."
