Richmond will give leader Jack Ross as much time as he needs to recover from his latest concussion, with the club expecting an extended stint on the sidelines.
Ross suffered his second head knock in six weeks against Carlton last week, and has entered protocols.
The Tigers have listed his estimated return as TBC, and is tipped to miss beyond the minimum 12-days.
"It's shattering," Richmond coach Adem Yze said.
"With "Rossy", it's unfortunate so we'll be really cautious. It's his second concussion in the last six weeks. So, we'll be really mindful that we'll probably need to give him a little bit longer before he comes back. It's sad to see him miss out.
"He's a pure leader of our footy club, and that act was a leadership act. We were losing our way and someone needed to do something, and obviously, he led the way in that area, but he led with his head in the wrong spot.
"Really unfortunate for him. Sam Grlj will come into the side and hopefully Dion (Prestia) will get through today."
The Tigers will be on the hunt for a new high-performance manager following Ben Serpell's departure.
Serpell joined the Punt Road club ahead of the 2024 season from Geelong, and during his tenure, oversaw a litany of injuries. As a result, the club used 40 players (equal-second most) last year, and have already used 39 (second most) this year.
"Ben has a different role now, and it's worked out nicely for him; he can move on," Yze said.
"We would've been looking at that at the end of the year. We can't go through another season. We've had a couple seasons where our availability wasn't up to AFL standard. Our responsibility is to provide a program for our younger lads, and make sure we're doing everything we can for elite performance and to be a high-performance environment.
"We can cater for losing him right now. We've got enough staff to move people around so we can finish the season strongly and then we'll bring in the best person we see fit."
Tigers prized 2024 Pick 1 Sam Lalor is progressing nicely from an achilles injury which has sidelined him since Round 7 this year.
Lalor has struggled to adjust to the rigours of AFL football, flagging issues in his hamstring since joining the club, with his latest setback limiting him to only seven games this year.
Yze is hopeful the forward-midfielder will return next week on managed minutes against Hawthorn, pending he gets through the required training.
