Despite the agonising four-point loss to Carlton in Richmond’s season opener, the competition for spots is hot at the Swinburne Centre.

Speaking to AFL Nation before the match, Executive General Manager of Football Performance, Tim Livingstone, explained how selecting the Round 1 team was a difficult task, with the likes of Tom Brown and Luke Trainor playing in a VFL practice match on Thursday afternoon.

“There is competition for spots and pressure on,” Livingstone said.  

“Our backline is particularly healthy, and for Gibo (Josh Gibcus) to come up and get some good minutes and to do a full pre-season is really exciting. 

“Browny and Trainor, we don’t want them playing reserves footy for long. They were terrific this afternoon (in the VFL). We went down to IKON Park and watched them, and both of them looked like they were above the level, which was great.

“As we go along, that is really important for our team. With some of our midfielders to come back, there is (Dion) Prestia and (Nick) Vlastuin, it creates that competition that will be healthy."

Livingstone also explained how the Tigers are focusing on developing winning habits this season, with some of them on display during Thursday night's season opener.

“It’s the winning habits of these young guys and the whole team learning the system and playing to the system,” Livingstone said.

“You know you are going to have some breakdowns at times, but we know with every game that we build that experience and build that ability to withstand the pressure at AFL level.

“We want to build winning habits, and coaches will sit up in that box and at times get really frustrated, but they also understand that these guys are going to make mistakes, which will reduce over time.”

Richmond host the Gold Coast Suns next Saturday at the MCG from 1:15pm.