Richmond captain Trent Cotchin will make his first appearance of this year’s NAB Challenge when the Tigers take on North Melbourne on Saturday.

Cotchin, 24, has been carefully managed throughout the AFL pre-season as he worked to overcome hamstring soreness.

Coach Damien Hardwick expected Cotchin to breeze through a training session at Punt Road Oval on Thursday and go on to gain some valuable match practice ahead of the Tigers’ season opener against Carlton.

“We need to get some game minutes into him,” Hardwick said.

“He’s trained really well over the course of the last two weeks. We could have pushed the envelope (and played him) last week, but there’s no point at this time of year.

“He’ll play about three quarters and it will be a good first up hit out against good opposition.”

Hardwick will name a strong line-up for Saturday’s clash at Etihad Stadium as he looks to nail down his best 22 for round one.

“We’re getting to the business end of the pre-season and we’ve just got to find those guys who are putting their hands up for positions,” he said.

“We’ve still got a lot of competition with regard to the back-line mix, the forward line and through the midfield.”

Former skipper Chris Newman won’t be in line for selection for the season opener after undergoing heart surgery this week to correct an irregular heartbeat, which Hardwick said sounded more serious than it actually was.

“It’s a common operation in athletes,” he said.

“He’s ready to go, but he’s just got to wait for the wound to heal.

“The operation was a success, so it’s not a major concern for us.”

Newman will miss two weeks of training while he recuperates from the procedure.