Having served a month-long penance in the reserves, two-time All Australian Joel Bowden returns to the Richmond lineup ready to play a revised role.

So many times in the last half-dozen years, the 188cm, 91kg defender has been forced to punch above his weight in a struggling, undersized Richmond backline.

But despite often doing the big jobs with aplomb, Bowden could also suffer from a lack of accountability at times.

And after back-to-back heavy losses against Collingwood and the Kangaroos early this year, he was the highest-profile scapegoat.

Bowden's time with Coburg in the VFL has coincided with the Tigers turning their form around with a big win over Fremantle, a draw with the unbeaten Western Bulldogs and narrow losses to highly-rated outfits Hawthorn and St Kilda.

Coach Terry Wallace acknowledged recently that the 29-year-old's days as a defender were numbered.

"Joel's been in really good form at Coburg playing in multiple positions, playing in the midfield and playing forward," Richmond assistant coach Brian Royal said.

"What it does show is that the depth of the Richmond football club is now at a stage where players don't get played continually who don't deserve opportunities.

"And that goes from the best player in the team down to our first-year players.

"We spoke to Joel four or five weeks ago about changing his role within the side.

"He can certainly see the change in the side over the last month and he's looking forward to playing a part in that change."

Heavy rain and the possibility of hail have been forecast for Saturday's MCG clash.

While such conditions would tend to favour bigger-bodied sides like the unbeaten Cats, Royal said Richmond led the competition in "hardball gets" this year.

"We're the No.1 hardball team in the competition and I don't think it's the body size that matters, it's how you go after it," said Royal.

"We're quite considerably No.1 in that area."

Gun Geelong onballer Gary Ablett remains in some doubt for Saturday's match after missing the last two weeks with a calf strain, while talented forward Steve Johnson left the track less than halfway during Geelong's training session on Thursday.

Cats assistant coach Brendan McCartney said Ablett and Johnson would both take the field on Saturday, while Royal said Richmond always prepared in the expectation that the opposition's leading players would be available.

Geelong's No.1 defender Matthew Scarlett almost always lines up against the opposing full-forward, meaning that either Darren Milburn or Andrew Mackie is likely to get the big job on Matthew Richardson if the Tigers' trump card again begins the match on a wing.

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