Richmond is looking at two of its highly-rated youngsters making significant progress next season.

Matt McDonough and Liam McBean, both 20, were separated by only nine places in the 2012 National Draft, and are preparing for their third seasons in the AFL system.

They have displayed glimpses of their potential to become important players for the Tigers in the coming years, despite limited opportunities so far at senior level.

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McDonough added a further seven AFL games to his career tally in 2014, mostly as a running defender.  A switch to the forward line, late in the season, saw him consistently among the best players with Richmond’s VFL team.

“Matty had an up-and-down year.  He started at half-back and then, due to match-ups and a couple of other things, the coaches decided he was better suited as a forward/midfielder,” said the Tigers’ VFL coach, Tim Clarke.

“He played some outstanding games.  He was getting good clearance numbers, good contested footy.

“He then started kicking two and three goals, which was showing his impact as a forward.

“Matty needs to have a really big pre-season, to give himself every opportunity to be able to play that forward role that can go and pinch-hit in the midfield.”

PICS: All the action from Wednesday’s training session at the ME Bank Centre

McBean is yet to play an AFL game, despite being close to breaking through back in the 2013 season.

He, too, has been strong at the second-tier level, kicking 37 goals in each of the past two seasons (finishing fourth in the competition’s goalkicking in 2014).

“Liam is one of the most talked about players people bring up when you’re talking about Richmond and the VFL program,” Clarke said.

“He’s a good kid, Liam.  He tries his hardest, but he didn’t have the year that was going to push him into senior level this year.

“We’re hoping that, over summer, he can do that, and if he can bring that expectation of that key forward to his game, he’s going to be pretty dangerous to match up on.”

WATCH: Anthony Miles’ analysis of the first day of pre-season for Richmond’s 1-4 year players