Richmond has gone back to the future with its recent recruiting methodology.

The successful Tiger teams of the early-mid 1970s contained a liberal sprinkling of talent imported from rival league clubs.

Players such as Ian Stewart (from St Kilda), Paul Sproule (Essendon), Robert McGhie (Footscray), David Thorpe (Footscray), Ricky McLean (Carlton), Stephen Rae (St Kilda) and Wayne Walsh (South Melbourne) provided the playing stocks at Tigerland with a significant boost.

Stewart was the last Richmond player to win a Brownlow Medal, and a key member of the Club’s 1973 premiership side.

Sproule, McGhie and Walsh were all key performers in the Tigers’ back-to-back premiership teams of 1973-74, while Rae, Thorpe and Andrews also made strong contributions to flag success with the Club.

McLean played in Richmond’s losing 1972 Grand Final side, and was equal winner of the Club’s leading goalkicker award that year (55 goals).

Now, four decades later, Richmond is again treading the ‘Foreign Legion’ path.

The Tigers will enter the 2014 season with no less than 13 players, on their combined primary and rookie lists, who have crossed over from rival AFL clubs – Shaun Grigg (Carlton), Ricky Petterd (Melbourne), Bachar Houli (Essendon), Chris Knights (Adelaide), Shaun Hampson (Carlton), Matt Thomas (Port Adelaide), Ivan Maric (Adelaide), Todd Banfield (Brisbane), Troy Chaplin (Port Adelaide), Anthony Miles (GWS), Aaron Edwards (North Melbourne/West Coast), Orren Stephenson (Geelong) and Nathan Gordon (Sydney).

We’ve seen the success of Richmond’s selective recruiting from other league clubs over the past three years, with Grigg, Houli, Maric and Chaplin all figuring prominently in Jack Dyer Medal voting, while Petterd, Edwards and Stephenson provided valuable back-up in 2013.

Since the end of the season, the Tigers have secured the services of a further five players from other league clubs – Hampson (via the trade period), Gordon (National Draft), Banfield (Rookie Draft), Miles (Rookie Draft) and Thomas (Rookie Draft).

All of them will have valuable roles to play in Richmond’s quest for sustained success.