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Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says inexperienced players have invigorated his injury-hit AFL squad ahead of a seventh round clash with the Western Bulldogs.

Like good compost on a garden, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is looking for the newer faces at Punt Road to continue to help invigorate the Tigers' AFL season in the absence of more-established stars.

Hardwick's side is eighth with a 4-2 record ahead of Saturday night's clash with the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium despite injuries to key players.

In the latest setback, important defender David Astbury was unable to shake off an ankle injury and joined Jack Riewoldt (knee) in departing the team that defeated Melbourne on Anzac Day eve.

It continued a trend for Hardwick's battered squad this season after enjoying a relatively clear run over the previous two years.

Shai Bolton and Connor Menadue, with 11 and 34 senior appearances to their names respectively, were called into the side.

"It's like adding a bit of compost to a rose garden - you get an immediate response, so that's really exciting," Hardwick said about the forced introduction of less-experienced players this year.

"Not that those players are compost," he quickly added, while smiling broadly.

"They're a little bit better than that, but the fact of the matter is it adds to the mix of your playing group."

Astbury and Riewoldt join Trent Cotchin (hamstring), Alex Rance (knee), Jack Graham (hamstring) and Shaun Grigg (knee, hip) on the sidelines.

Riewoldt's injury-interrupted season continued when he damaged the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against the Demons.

The spearhead avoided surgery, but Hardwick expects he will be missing until around the club's round 14 bye, leaving Tom Lynch to carry the tall forward load.

The 26-year-old burst out of the blocks with 16 goals in his first four games as Tiger after his switch from Gold Coast, but has just one major in his past two matches.

"People look at last week and see that he kicked one goal and they say that he didn't have a huge impact," Hardwick said.

"But he brings the ball to ground, which is what we haven't had to the level that we have with Tom now.

"His role from when he was at Gold Coast is different at Richmond. He's not a real lead-up forward that will get up the ground as he was ... we require him to play a different brand.

"Both are of value, we just value different things, and he's learning to value those things as well.

"He's really important to the way that we play."