Grant Birchall (Hawthorn)

Grant Birchall was among Hawthorn’s best in its loss to GWS last week, with 20 disposals at 95% efficiency.

The Hawks will be looking to get the ball into his hands as often as possible when coming out of defence tonight to set up their attacking plays.

James Sicily (Hawthorn)

After having a quiet game against the Giants, James Sicily will be looking to bounce back against the Tigers tonight.

With Alex Rance out of the Richmond side through suspension, both he and Jack Gunston will be wanting to try to stretch the Richmond defence and isolate themselves in one-on-one contests as regularly as possible.

Ben McEvoy (Hawthorn)

Ben McEvoy held his own last week against in-form Giants’ ruckman Shane Mumford, and will be crucial to the Hawks’ success in the midfield tonight.

Richmond struggled to convert their hitouts into clearances last week, and if McEvoy and fellow ruckman Jonathon Ceglar can get on top of Shaun Hampson and Ben Griffiths, it will go a long way to ensuring the Hawks can win the midfield battle.

Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)

Although the Tigers have struggled over the last couple of weeks, their star forward hasn’t let that affect his performance.

Jack Riewoldt has kicked 16 goals in the first six games of the year, including three last week against the Power. He likes playing the Hawks, having kicked 12 goals in the last four encounters between the two sides.

Bachar Houli (Richmond)

After a couple of quiet games against West Coast (16 disposals) and Melbourne (14 disposals), Houli was back to his rebounding best against Port Adelaide with 34 disposals, eight rebound 50s and three inside 50s.

The Hawks will have to keep a close eye on him, as the Tigers use his kicking skills as much as possible to take the ball up the ground.