Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has spoken of the Club’s aspirations in the AFL’s annual player talent-acquisition phase, which officially kicks off today (Friday, October 3), with the start of the free-agency period.

“Our list management happens throughout the year, anyway, so we’ve got a fair understanding of what we need to improve, and that’s the big one for us,” Hardwick told Tiger great Matthew Richardson in a special ‘Roar Vision’ post-season interview.

“We need to get more talent in to help drive our footy club forward, and then Francis (Jackson) and Blair (Hartley) will work about devising that plan.

“The great thing about the draft this year is it bats really deep, so we’ve freed up about seven or eight picks, whereas in previous years we’ve only had three.

“We’ll be looking to bring in some significant talent, which’ll drive us, hopefully, to improvement.”

Hardwick stated that Richmond’s general philosophy at the draft table was to go for the best available player.

“We certainly have a model that we work to with regards to the characteristics that we look for in players,” he said.

“The way we rate them might be different to other clubs from that point of view, but our guys have got a really good handle on what we need and, more importantly, where we need to go to get better.

“Francis and Blair have brought in some really significant talent for us over the last number of years.

“You only get a chance to improve your list once a year with bringing in talent, so it’s an exciting period for us.”

The free-agency period runs until October 12, the trade period from October 6-16, the National Draft takes place on November 27, and the Pre-season/Rookie Draft is on December 3.  And, there are several delisted player free agency periods over the next couple of months as well.