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Richmond forward Tom Lynch has been named to play in Sunday's AFL clash with Sydney at the Gabba despite undergoing surgery on his broken right hand on Monday.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has been left pleasantly stunned by Tom Lynch's recovery powers, rating the star forward as "probable" to play against Sydney on Sunday.

Lynch had surgery on his broken right hand on Monday before taking a chartered flight to join his teammates in their Gold Coast quarantine Hub.

The 27-year-old was named in Richmond's 22-man team on Friday, and will line up against the Swans barring any late setbacks.

"He did the vast majority (of training) actually," Hardwick said on Friday.

"He's gone from a doubtful to a probable to play on Sunday, which is a great result for us.

"The injury occurred in probably the first two minutes of the game (against Melbourne last weekend) and to play with no injection, it just shows the strength of the man."

Richmond made five changes all up.

Shane Edwards and Bachar Houli have stayed behind in Melbourne for family reasons, while skipper Trent Cotchin (hamstring), Dion Prestia (ankle syndesmosis) and Toby Nankervis (ankle syndesmosis) have been ruled out through injury.

Premiership quartet Marlion Pickett, Ivan Soldo, Jack Graham and Shai Bolton have been recalled, along with Derek Eggmolesse-Smith.

The Swans have handed debuts to Chad Warner and Dylan Stephens, while Ryley Stoddart has been named for his first match of the season.

Port Adelaide have dumped out-of-form midfielder Tom Rockliff for their clash with the Giants at Metricon Stadium on Sunday.

Riley Bonner has also been axed, paving the way for Cam Sutcliffe and Ryan Burton to earn call-ups.

The Giants welcome back former skipper Callan Ward.

Lachie Hunter returns for the Bulldogs after serving his four-match club-imposed suspension, while Louis Butler has also been recalled for Sunday's match against Carlton at Metricon Stadium.

The Blues made just one change, bringing in Matthew Kennedy for the axed Sam Philp.

Hardwick said he will err on the side of caution with Cotchin, who injured his hamstring in last weekend's win over the Demons.

"We think he'll miss two (matches), then will be available for that third week of games," Hardwick said.

"It's on the lower end, it's nothing to do with the tendon, it's on the outside.

"If push comes to shove he could possibly play that second week.

"But with the history he's had over the last year, we'll probably give him that extra week just to make sure he's ready to go."