Jobe Watson may also have been slightly hurt in the second quarter, but Hird would not disclose the nature of the injury.

For Richmond, coach Damien Hardwick said tall forward Tyrone Vickery was a chance to play against top-ranked side Fremantle next week.

Fletcher became just the third person to play 400 AFL matches, at the remarkable age of 40.

A crowd of more than 88,000 turned out to see him play and to mark the 11th Dreamtime at the 'G match, an annual celebration of Aboriginal culture and Indigenous people's contribution to the game.

But the Bombers could not get the win for the club stalwart, losing by 13 points in a scrappy, close match.

Hird said he had wanted to play Fletcher for the full game, but was forced to sub him out in the final quarter.

"Hurting his groin late in the third quarter capped off an ordinary night in terms of our performance," he said.

"We were going to leave Fletch on in his 400th game, but when he got that injury we pretty quickly made the decision to bring him off."

Hird said the game had been frustrating to watch because his team had made a lot of mistakes with the ball.

"It's the way we're handballing the ball really, and not kicking it when we should kick it," he said.

Jake Carlisle and Joe Daniher have been working on their goal-kicking with the Bomber's legendary forward Matthew Lloyd.

It showed when Daniher booted six in Essendon's thrashing of Brisbane the previous week, and he kicked two straight against the Tigers on Saturday night.

But Carlisle managed just one goal and three behinds against Richmond, and Essendon's scored eight goals and 11 behinds.

"He's just to keep working on it really," Hird said of Carlisle.

"Lloydy's done a great job with Joe and a lot of our goal kickers, so we get back on the park this week."

Hardwick, a long-time teammate of Fletcher's, paid tribute to the veteran backman.

"It's hard to believe we were drafted the same year," said Hardwick.

"I've been out of the game for 10 years. It's staggering. He's an incredible player, incredible athlete."

Vickery injured his knee and ankle during the Tiger's win against Port Adelaide, but Harwick said he may play when Richmond line up against ladder leaders Fremantle.

"A really good opportunity to see where we're at," Hardwick said of the Tiger's next match.

"We're looking forward to the challenge."