Richmond midfielder Reece Conca is one of several Tiger players looking to make amends for an interrupted 2014 pre-season.

The serious hamstring tendon tear he suffered in the elimination final loss to Carlton in 2013 delayed his return to a full program, which affected him throughout this year.

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Richmond is now optimistic Conca can get a full summer under his belt with no surgery required this year, and the Tigers are looking for the sort of improvement shown by another youngster, Brandon Ellis, in 2014. 

"Brandon has been great, he's hardly missed a game, he's a really hard runner and became a really important player for us," Richardson said.

"That's what we need, the likes of Reece to jump up to that level of output for us and then we'll become a better side.

"Reece showed glimpses of what he's capable of - the Geelong game (in round seven) is an example of that - he just needs to get fit."

Conca missed games late in the season not due to injury, but because of his two-game suspension for striking Greater Western Sydney's Devon Smith.

"We've got high hopes for Reece to continue to develop and have a real impact at AFL level," Richardson said.

"By his own admission, he probably doesn't feel as if he's been able to do that yet but we certainly think he can.

"He's got the ability to; he's just got to come back and work hard."