With the finals window officially shutting down for the Tigers against Port Adelaide on Friday, Damien Hardwick must explore his squad in great detail and regenerate a list that has outplayed itself.
After another disappointing performance against another fellow mid tier club, it is glaringly obvious that Richmond has major holes in their list which require immediate attention.
Richmond has as plenty of good players, but lacks depth and the mid-level talent that is required to be a successful AFL side.
Players such as Troy Chaplin, Ivan Maric, Jake Batchelor and Liam McBean are most likely going to depart the club, meaning the list management team can look at finding fresh faces who can represent a new look side.
Richmond must keep injecting the side with young talent and have done so in 2016, blooding such players as Jayden Short, Daniel Rioli, Jason Castagna and Nathan Broad, as well as continually looking for improvement from first round selections Ben Lennon and Corey Ellis.
The Tigers must find a way to get in another first round draft selection, preferably a young tall that they can persist with. In order for the club to achieve this, some hard list management decisions need to be addressed.
Do Tyrone Vickery, Ben Griffiths and Reece Conca have anything to offer the club? Probably not, so the club needs to try and negotiate deals in order to obtain enough draft selections in the 2017 National Draft.
There have been inklings that Fremantle and Brisbane are interested in Vickery and the Tigers should gain a second round selection as compensation.
The club also needs to look at the AFL Trade Period and the Free Agency market for any talent that is going to take the club forward.
Richmond desperately need more midfield class, another ruckman to support Shaun Hampson and another key forward if either Vickery or Griffiths leave at season’s end.
At this stage, the Tigers are in a great position to secure either Dion Prestia or Jack Steele and they should be throwing the kitchen sink to obtain the services of either one of them.
The club should also consider looking at ruckman such as Zac Clarke, Tom Nicholls, Matthew Lobbe or possibly Nathan Vardy, all talls that have struggled for opportunity at their respective clubs but still have the opportunity to turn their careers around.
The club will also look for prized recruit Chris Yarran to get on the park and will benefit from his skill and creativeness off halfback.
If they can get in a quality midfielder and ruckman, get Yarran back on to the park and still obtain around four draft selections, including a pick inside the top 15, it could be a defining draft and trade period for the club’s future.
Richmond’s season has been disappointing and Hardwick needs to use the rest of the season to explore every player on his list and figure out who can take the club forward.
The club boasts too many high quality footballers to bottom out and the next challenge for Hardwick is to create enough depth within the squad to rejuvenate a stagnant season in which they have been exposed for their weaknesses.
The way to do this is to bring in players that will genuinely improve the team, not stop gaps. Blood young players and bring more in through the draft.
They must continue to chip away at the lower-tier players and strive for their overall improvement.
The challenge is there for Hardwick to take. He has the backing of the club to rejuvenate his side and get the Tigers back into a powerful position.
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