The physical development of the Richmond playing group has been a standout feature of this pre-season training period compared to the others during Damien Hardwick’s coaching reign at the Club.

And, the coach is delighted with what he’s seeing . . .

“Pre-season’s been really good.  The thing that’s more noticeable this year is the bigger bodies of our players.  The size of our group, from a height point of view, but also generally width-wise, has certainly improved,” Hardwick said on ‘Roar Vision’.

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“We’ve certainly gone into the drafts looking to increase that . . . We’re probably looking at guys coming into the Club at 80-odd kilos now, compared to probably 70 kilos previously, so we’ve really improved in that area.”

What’s also caught Hardwick’s eye has been the overall quality of the Tigers’ pre-season training.

“The general standard of our training has also improved,” he said.

“We’ve brought in a lot of experienced players, which certainly helps.  But players like Matty Dea, now coming into his third season, Dustin Martin, Reece Conca, they’ve all naturally progressed in their football ability . . .

“We’ve always gone into the pre-season with an individual focus.  Team focus comes more into January planning.

“So, the key is if we can have marginal gain with every player on our list (pre-Christmas), it’s certainly going to put us in good stead coming into season 2013.”