After watching Richmond's stirring victory over Sydney from the stands, St Kilda coach Ross Lyon is on a "red alert" for the Tiger test awaiting his charges.
Richmond defender Nick Vlastuin led the way as the Tigers pulled off an upset win at the MCG, their first under new coach Adem Yze.
Lyon made a point of listing the Tigers' plethora of premiership stars still at Yze's disposal, despite losing Tom Lynch and Noah Balta to injury.
"We're very optimistic (with) where we're at," he said.
"We understand we've got a big challenge (in) Richmond.
"I went and watched live last week. Sat there not far from (Nick) Vlastuin, I saw him dominate a game in the second half.
"(Shai) Bolton's there, Dusty (Dustin Martin) comes in and we know what he's capable of, and gee (Daniel) Rioli and (Jayden) Short, those sort of guys and (Nathan) Broad.
"It's virtually a premiership midfield without (Dion) Prestia there to be honest, with (Toby) Nankervis, you've got (Marlion) Pickett, you've got (Kamdyn) McIntosh on the wing.
"It's a red alert, but we just need to play really good footy to give ourselves the best chance."
The Tigers have regained superstar Martin and midfielder Jack Graham from injury, while Jacob Koschitzke has been recalled and South Australian on-baller Kane McAuliffe will make his debut.
For St Kilda, gun forward Max King returns from his one-match ban and replaces Marcus Windhager (suspension).
King and his fellow forwards will have to make sure Vlastuin can't intercept and set up play at will.
"You've got to use the ball well, you've got to bring it to ground, you've got to try and make him defend," Lyon said.
"He'll have his moments, but we've got to make sure we have more moments."
Lyon said he expected the game to be a perfect test for some of his younger players.
"You can't buy experience, can you? We're pretty excited about our young group," he said.
“We were a young group last year and we’re a young group again this year. But this doesn’t give us an excuse. We aim to perform.
"... Every time they play, they should learn something.
"They're gonna be learning some lessons, but it's a weight-of-numbers exercise.
"We've got some senior players that will hopefully bring us up and drag us across the line."
Both teams marked out new lines on their respective training grounds to prepare for Norwood Oval's narrower dimensions.
“I don't complicate it much, mate. It is what it is and we're looking forward to the contest," Lyon said.
"We'd play on asphalt this weekend to be honest."
