Young Richmond forward Liam McBean says he’s working hard on deficiencies in his game, to ready himself for a potential opportunity at senior level.

While he has been hitting the scoreboard at VFL level in the last month, he has taken on board the feedback he has received from Damien Hardwick and the development coaches.

"The amount of goals I was kicking was probably the same amount I gave away from not being switched on defensively," he said of his form earlier this season.  

"There's been stages this year where I've looked a little bit uncompetitive and I've spoken to 'Dimma' a lot about second and third efforts, just to show that desperation.

"'Dimma' has shown a lot of faith in me, and I've worked a lot on just changing my mindset and being more aware and not letting my defenders run the ball out of the backline."

Contested marking has been the other key focus for McBean, who acknowledged he needed to take more marks in pack situations or bring the ball to ground.

He said he had made an effort to simplify his football, which had been the main reason for his recent good form.    

"Sometimes I try to do a little bit too much," McBean said. 

"I've spoken to 'Clarkey' (VFL coach Tim Clarke) a few times about trying to keep inside the box.

"There were definitely times when I had shots on goal when I wasn't in the right spot and I'd try to do too much with the ball and wouldn't pick the right targets.

"Now my game is about marks, goals, and applying defensive pressure."

Recruited with pick No.33 in the 2012 AFL Draft, McBean was developing well as VFL level in his debut season last year, before he suffered a season-ending ankle injury.

Subsequent surgery restricted him through the pre-season and the 19-year-old's 2014 campaign was interrupted by a finger operation mid-year.

Despite that setback, McBean has booted 20 goals in the past five VFL matches to lead the goalkicking in the state league, with 33.