RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has responded to criticism that the Tigers don't seek to land big-name players from other clubs by backing the club's recent recruiting record with lower-profile players.
 
"We target players who we think are going to take the club forward," Hardwick said on Thursday.
 
"The addition of Ivan Maric, the addition of Shaun Grigg, Bachar Houli, Steve Morris … I think we've got a pretty good strike rate in that regard."
 
Richmond great Kevin Bartlett said on his program on SEN that the Tigers should put themselves in the market for high-profile stars such as Collingwood forward Travis Cloke.
 
Bartlett played for Richmond from 1965-83, an era in which the Tigers were renowned for their ruthless raids on opposition clubs.
 
Hardwick said Richmond would like to recruit Cloke, as would every club, but there were dangers in putting all a club's energy and resources into signing a big name.
 
"The free agency market is one that can spiral out of control," Hardwick said.
 
"You can get one big fish, but the fact is there's two or three who can float out the other way."
 
Of the Tigers' list, Hardwick said 30-year-old midfielder Shane Tuck had put himself in a strong position to earn another contract.
 
"He's been outstanding. It's been his best year for a hell of a long time.
 
"He's like his old man; he's getting better with age.
 
"His form warrants another contract, but we'll work through that in due course."
 
Richmond goes into Saturday night's match against Carlton at the MCG as the favoured team despite losing to the Blues by 44 points in round one, the Tigers' biggest loss this season.
 
Their eight losses since have been by 21 points or less, and in the past two rounds, the Tigers have lost to Gold Coast by two points and North Melbourne by four points.
 
The Blues have won the past seven games between the clubs, but Hardwick said the past was not a consideration.
 
"It's a new game," Hardwick said.
 
"The sides have changed enormously over the past 16 or 17 weeks.
 
"We're playing better footy. There are certain stages of the game we dominate. We're just not getting the scoreboard result."
 
Hardwick said the Tigers must improve their discipline; he wants no back-chatting of umpires as happened when Brett Deledio, a member of the leadership group,  gave away a free kick and 50m penalty against North Melbourne last Sunday.
 
He also wants an improvement in kicking for goal - the Tigers have had more scoring shots than their rivals in most games.
 
"We've just to make sure that when we get the opportunity to hit the scoreboard we do so," Hardwick said.