Richmond’s renowned small forward structure is set for a slight tweak next season, as part of the reigning premier’s effort to stay ahead of the pack.

The Tigers’ heavy reliance on a group of quick, slick, strong defensively-minded small forwards was a major factor in their 2017 premiership triumph.

A key member of that group, Dan Butler, has forecast some modification to the way the Tiger ‘smalls’ go about it in 2018.

“Obviously the game’s always changing and we’re going to practise different things over the pre-season that we can hopefully implement in the game plan next year that might be able to change things up,” Butler said.

“But not too sure at this stage because a few big boys are putting their hand up to play alongside Jack (Riewoldt).”

Butler declared that this year’s premiership was now just a sweet memory, with preparations for season 2018 Richmond’s chief priority.

“We’ve reflected on the 2017 campaign, we’ve reset ourselves, and now we’re fully focused on 2018,” he said.

“We’re just going to train pretty hard over the pre-season and see what happens next year.”