RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace expects St Kilda to work hard to stop Matthew Richardson in his successful new wingman role.

One of the features of Richmond's much-improved form in the past three weeks has been Richardson's superb work away from goal.

The Tigers and Saints will meet at Telstra Dome on Saturday night, with Richmond wanting to capitalise on its form surge this year and the Saints badly needing a win.

Privately, the Tigers expect Saints utility Jason Blake to tag Richardson. But Wallace did not discount the prospect of Richardson and Saints key forward Nick Riewoldt being opposed to each other on a wing.

Asked whether fans might be treated to the unusual sight of Richardson and Riewoldt on opposite wings, Wallace replied, "or on the same wing, absolutely, that could quite easily happen".

"I've seen Nick play those sorts of roles before, it depends what they're doing with their structure, doesn't it? It depends what is happening with Fraser (Gehrig), the ruck situation — whether Michael Gardiner comes back into the side, which we think would be a reasonable chance."

Saints coach Ross Lyon indicated that Richardson would be the subject of much St Kilda planning.

"He's been running back, running forward, using him on the switch, he's the everywhere man," Lyon said.

"I think there's loose men back to defend and there's loose men back to attack and I think he's struck a really nice balance with both — we'll go to match committee and consider it.

"I've worked with Richo years ago and he's one that gets spoken about a lot, he's a very special player and it takes a player with an enormous work-rate to play on him. We feel we've got a couple of them — Blake, (Jason) Gram, Sam Fisher — we've got some super athletes that can really run.

"You mightn't be able to stop his attack so much, but you might be able to attack through him a little bit."

Saturday shapes as a big game for both teams — the Tigers need reward for recent effort, while there are new question marks over St Kilda.

Lyon said Richmond's improved tackling can be traced to the middle of last season.

"We noted their change in the second half of last year," he said. "Clearly, their contested ball, they consistently win it, Terry's not playing anyone that won't tackle, they've made some philosophical shifts."