Ben Cousins is back for Richmond but another injury concern has left Hawthorn again patching up their defence ahead of Friday night's AFL clash against Essendon.

The Tigers named Cousins to play the Brisbane Lions on Saturday at the MCG in what will be the former West Coast star's first AFL game since round one, when he injured his hamstring.

After proving his fitness in the VFL last weekend, Cousins' return, along with half-forward Nathan Brown, gave the struggling Tigers some encouragement following the loss of star Matthew Richardson (hamstring) on Tuesday.

The Tigers were confident they had given Cousins, 30, adequate recovery time since his injury six weeks ago.

"We gave him an extra week before he came back with Coburg last week, so he's had an extended period off and showed no signs of soreness, so he's done everything right," said Richmond football operations manager Ross Monaghan.

Hawthorn looked set to bolster their defence when Grant Birchall showed at training he had overcome a broken thumb and coach Alastair Clarkson declared Stephen Gilham (knee) and Xavier Ellis (foot) close to ready.

But Birchall's return was dimmed by the loss of half-back Brent Guerra, who experienced back tightness towards the end of training and will be rested this weekend.

The Hawks also decided to have Ellis and Gilham return via the VFL given they did not want too many players without match practice against a young Bombers side.

"We probably made an error in our selection going into the Port Adelaide game (round four) when we went in with four guys coming in and we seemed a little down on our intensity that day," Clarkson said.

The Hawks also dropped Jarryd Morton and Brent Renouf and replaced them with Ben McGlynn and Cameron Stokes.

Essendon named youngsters Jay Neagle, Tom Bellchambers and Bachar Houli to replace Dustin Fletcher (fractured leg), Leroy Jetta (knee) and dropped forward Scott Lucas, who will play in the VFL.

Brown returns for Richmond after two weeks off to rest his injured groin, while Troy Simmonds replaced dropped forward Mitch Morton and half-back Jordan McMahon.

The Lions retained the same side that beat Essendon.

Geelong captain Tom Harley will play his first game for the season, against Sydney at Skilled Stadium on Saturday, after proving he had overcome a knee injury.

His deputy Cameron Ling returns from an Achilles injury to replace Gary Ablett (groin), while David Johnson made way.

Sydney named an unchanged side.

Collingwood included forward Anthony Rocca and defender Heath Shaw in their squad for Monday night's game against St Kilda, while Steele Sidebottom, the Magpies' top draft pick last year, is a chance to make his debut.

Rocca missed last week's win over North Melbourne through ankle soreness and Shaw because of a hamstring injury, but both were named to play the ladder-leading Saints, who are unchanged.

Paul Medhurst was also named despite concerns over his sprained ankle, but fellow forward John Anthony (suspension) and midfielder Dayne Beams (groin) could not be considered.

North dropped Sam Power, Ed Lower and Levi Greenwood for Saturday night's clash with Port Adelaide, while defender Daniel Pratt missed out through a knee strain.

Midfielder Daniel Wells returns from a hip injury, along with Matt Campbell, Ben Ross and Todd Goldstein.

Port lost Hamish Hartlett to a hamstring injury and replaced him with first-gamer Jason Davenport.

Carlton made four changes for Saturday night's game against Fremantle on the Gold Coast despite getting within a goal of beating Hawthorn last Saturday.

Andrew Carrazzo (hamstring) was forced out, but the Blues dropped Ryan Houlihan, Setanta O'hAilpin and Greg Bentley, and replaced them with Mark Austin, Richard Hadley, Shaun Hampson and debutant Chris Yarran.

Fremantle also named a debutant, as Luke Pratt replaced Ryan Crowley (foot).

West Coast dropped under-performing forward Ashley Hansen for Sunday's home game against Melbourne.

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