RICHMOND star Mark Coughlan's long road back from injury starts today, with the 26-year-old midfielder set to take the field for the Tigers' VFL affiliate Coburg.

After two serious knee injuries — both of which required full reconstructions — Coughlan returned to competitive football during the pre-season competition but was again struck down, this time with a hamstring complaint.

Richmond assistant and Coburg coach Jade Rawlings said the clubs will welcome Coughlan back "with open arms".

"He will definitely play," Rawlings said. "He would have played last week but due to the split round, we weren't able to accommodate him with a game.

"So, he's been able to get an extra week of conditioning under his belt with his training."

Coughlan has not played an AFL match since round 12 of the 2006 season, when he first injured his knee, but Rawlings said he expects Richmond's 2003 best-and-fairest winner to play most of the game.

"I would have thought he would be looking to play three quarters of the game and I would rather put him into the action where he does his best work, which will be on the ball. We would like to think that he will be able to have a strong contribution for us (today).

"I would have thought he would need a few (VFL matches). He played a few (matches) in the pre-season series and then started being troubled by a bit of soreness. It's been quite a bit of time since he played senior AFL football, so you would think he would have to put a few together before he would be put into consideration for the senior side."

North Melbourne's Josh Gibson will line up for the Kangaroos' VFL affiliate Werribee today after missing three matches with a knee injury. Kangaroos' football operations chief Donald McDonald said the defender was itching to play last week but added the club was not prepared to take the risk.

"He was super-keen to play last week but we just felt it was too big a risk," McDonald said.

"But maybe we were erring on the conservative side, but we just felt he would be better with a good, solid week's training under his belt leading into his first game, which he's been able to get."

McDonald said Gibson could be available for the Kangaroos' match against West Coast next week depending on his form today.

"It's like all the boys, they have just got to perform. He is obviously a senior player and a very important player out of our back six. We just want him to get this run under his belt and just take it from there."

Other AFL players taking the field in VFL matches this weekend are Melbourne's Paul Johnson and Essendon's Leroy Jetta.

Johnson (hand) will line up for Sandringham and Jetta will play for the Bendigo Bombers after he returned last week from a hamstring complaint.