Brisbane coach Michael Voss has tipped an "absorbing" battle between Daniel Merrett and Jack Riewoldt on Saturday night but is more excited by his new twin towers at the other end of the MCG.

Voss is desperate to see winless Brisbane finally open their account this season and believes the left-field key forward combination of former ruck duo Mitch Clark and Matthew Leuenberger can rattle Richmond.

While Riewoldt's outstanding five-goal haul in last week's triumph over North Melbourne has put extra heat on Brisbane fullback Merrett, the Lions will ask questions of their own against the Tigers defence.

Richmond talls Luke McGuane, Alex Rance and Dylan Grimes (all 192-194cm tall) will have their work cut out preventing 200cm Clark and 204cm Leuenberger taking some big grabs.

Despite four Lions losses, Clark is performing strongly in the absence of spearhead Jonathan Brown while Leuenberger's switch to centre half-forward against St Kilda would have brought more reward if he had kicked truly.

"We threw caution to the wind and tried it out ... against Melbourne (round three) and got something out of it," Voss said

"(Leuenberger) is meeting the ball at the highest point at the moment, as is Mitch.

"If we can get that combination going really, really well, hopefully it puts a bit of pressure on the Tigers defence.

"To have that even when Browny returns is a fantastic asset to have in your footy club."

At the other end of the ground, Lions vice-captain Merrett matches up with Riewoldt better than most but still faces one of the toughest tasks in the game.

"(Merrett) is well equipped to handle this task for us," Voss said.

"It's going to be a great battle and an absorbing battle - a contest that I'm sure a lot of people will be taking notice of."

Richmond deserve favouritism but the loss of suspended tagger Daniel Jackson is a significant blow and should allow Lions star Simon Black more time and space to create.

Tigers assistant coach and former Brisbane triple-premiership player Justin Leppitsch said it was crucial Richmond fixed their slow starts against his old team.

Richmond have yet to lead at the first change this season and have been smashed early in their past four games.

"It's more a mental thing with our group than a physical thing because, physically, we are a very fit team," Leppitsch said.

"It's just a matter of attacking the game nice and early and we have broached that."

Voss admitted he was sorely tempted to rush Josh Drummond straight back after his long-awaited return in the reserves following knee surgery but the rebounding defender was not yet 100 per cent fit.

"We'd love him out there and we're a better team when he does play for us but we need to be a bit more patient," he said.

"We've been waiting 12 months to play and one more week won't hurt us."

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