Richmond will fill the hole created by assistant coach Justin Leppitsch’s departure to coach Brisbane from within, while, at the same time, look to further strengthen its development department.

Leppitsch has taken over the coaching reins with the Lions, following a four-year stint as one of Damien Hardwick’s assistants at Tigerland.

“We’ll not directly replace him (Leppitsch).  We felt as though we’ve got good experience in our coaching group and, certainly with Mark ‘Choco’ Williams coming in this time last year, that added to that,” said Richmond’s General Manager of Football, Dan Richardson, on ‘Trade Radio’.

“We needed to resource our VFL team next year and we’ve been working hard on that . . .

“Development is a big part of any club and will only become a bigger part, going forward, particularly at Richmond.

“So, what our strategy will be, is to appoint a couple of development coaches.

“We’ve announced the appointment of Andrew McQualter (former St Kilda and Gold Coast player) as one of those development coaches and we’re currently in the process of talking to a couple of others.  We hope to make an announcement on that in the near future.”