VETERAN onballer Ben Cousins has received the backing of Richmond coach Damien Hardwick in the face of calls for his retirement.

Cousins, 31, appeared well off the pace at times during the Tigers' 56-point loss to Carlton, but Hardwick rejected the idea that his spot in the team would be better used on a younger player as the first-year coach embarks on a rebuilding program.  

"He'll play. As long as his form permits he'll play," Hardwick said of his plans for Cousins for the rest of the 2010 season on Thursday.

"Ben [is] an outstanding athlete … but the round-one games and the round-two games are very, very quick.

"If you haven't quite done the preparation - and we took a bit of a risk playing him and it probably didn't work to the degree that we'd like - but he'll be better for the run this week.

"He's the first to admit that pre-Christmas he had a few things on his mind, but from Christmas onwards he's been outstanding. He had that illness for a while so he missed probably four sessions, but he's been very good for us."

Cousins looks set to be joined by Graham Polak in the Richmond squad to face the Western Bulldogs on Sunday as Hardwick strives to properly assess the talent he has at his disposal.

"He's a player that can straighten us up," he said.

"Last week we went in with the idea that it was going to be a hot night so we went in with an extra runner … and it didn't work. We tried Ty Vickery forward and probably ended up being a bit short so we learned a lesson from that.

"There will be some changes no doubt - that's what happens in AFL footy. We're still trying to find out who can implement our system well and who can't. There will be some changes and guys will get opportunities and young blokes will come in."

The Tigers were one of three teams to start the season off with a hefty 56-point loss, but Hardwick laughed off the perception from outside the club that the defeat had added pressure on him and his team.

"The way we see it is every week we get a chance to improve and that's what we did. We learned some lessons from the weekend's match, we addressed those during the week and we move on.

"It's like driving a car. The first time you get in a car how do you drive? We know where we're at, we know where we want to go and we're working our way back from there.

"This is the start of the journey, we've laid a foundation block and we know exactly how far we've got to go."