Richmond will attempt to inflict Hawthorn's first loss this AFL season by backing one defender on Lance Franklin and resisting the urge to double-team the red-hot forward.

Tigers coach Terry Wallace was naturally wary of stopping Franklin - who leads the league goal kicking with 29 goals after five rounds - on Sunday night at the MCG, but conceded there was a danger of becoming too obsessive.

North Melbourne were the last side to curb Franklin, Josh Gibson receiving support from teammates in ganging up on the Hawk in last year's semi-final, but Wallace said Richmond could not become too conscious of one player.

"Fremantle were very wary of him a couple of weeks ago and Jarryd Roughead jumps in and starts kicking goals," he said.

"The last time we played them (Hawthorn, last season), Jarryd had four goals at halftime (five for the game).

"If you put all your eggs in one basket, somebody else is going to get out, so you've got to be wary of that and trusting of whoever gets the job, whether that's one or multiple."

That doesn't mean Wallace will gain any more sleep plotting Hawthorn's downfall, as he rated the rangy Franklin the most athletically-gifted player he had seen in 30 years in the game.

"In my time in the competition I haven't seen a player who's athletically that far advanced and superior to the others that he's playing on," said Wallace, who twice overlooked Franklin in the 2004 national draft.

"I see great players in the game. Where he fits into the game, history will tell that at the end of his career ... but most of those players have done it through either their skill level or their courage.

"Buddy just seems to have that physical prowess that's over and above most of the other blokes."

Tigers fullback Will Thursfield will stand Franklin if Hawthorn play him close to goal, but the job could fall to any of Graham Polak, Luke McGuane, Jay Schulz or Kelvin Moore if the Hawks play their trump further up the ground.

Wallace was unsure whether the 21-year-old was the best player in the competition, but was impressed with the Hawks' climb in recent years.

"Hawthorn are in great form and the one thing that you've seen with the Hawthorn footy club is that they've been on a graph that just continually rises, so they're going to be tough opponents," he said.

Wallace was also encouraged by Richmond's recent form, although he was disappointed by the Tigers' inability to ice the clock, when they led the Western Bulldogs by 19 points with four minutes left but shared the points.

"The upside for us is that we're playing good footy, the downside is we cost ourselves two points," he said.

"But what you've got to learn out of that is when you get into that situation the next time, you get the extra two points."

Will Minson's late goal levelled the scored for the Bulldogs, after umpire Simon Meredith got it wrong when he gave the ruckman the ball after Brian Lake went off injured.

But Wallace had no problem with the decision, which he felt was the sort of talking point that was good for the game.

Wallace said senior pair Joel Bowden and Kayne Pettifer were unlikely to be recalled from the VFL this week given the team's good showing against the Bulldogs.

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