From the training habits and willingness to turn the season around, as well as shining young talent, Richmond's Executive General Manager, Football Performance, Tim Livingstone, spoke to Talking Tigers ahead of Round 7's clash with Melbourne. 

On last week's loss to North Melbourne and bouncing back against Melbourne...

"I promise you, there's a sense of positivity and energy about the players. Our review [of the Round 6 loss], talked about some of the great things we were doing in the game. Halfway through that game, there were a lot of numbers [in our favour], stoppage work, inside-50s. It showed an uplift of things we had worked on during the week.

"The growth even from that week, after the week against the Giants, when we were getting the ball in there, but not even getting those shots of goal, was promising.

"To their credit, (Adem) Yze was thrilled with their spirit and their fight through four quarters. But we're also really honest. Phases of the game, we've been looking very good, and then we're allowing teams to get momentum and put us away. It's a work in progress."

On training habits...

"They're a really coachable group. They're a bunch of guys who go, 'you want us to work on that? We can work on that'. Then they show you they can execute.

"As we get more experience, more time playing together, hopefully those [down] patches reduce and we play that better footy for longer."

On the growth of Sam Grlj, Sam Lalor, Jack Ross, Kane McAuliffe...

"I love the way Sam Grlj continues to go about his footy. He's a dynamic young player, whose been thrown around a little bit. He's not rattled, he just goes out and plays and wants to do his best.

"[Lalor] is less than 20 games in and does some powerful things around the footy, is composed with ball-in-hand, hard on himself, wants to be better, more impactful. That will come. He's going to be a great player for us, for a long time.

"Jack Ross' continued growth as a leader...he is competing so well. He looks comfortable at the level and is consistent, week in, week out. He has worked so hard over such a long time.

"With [Jacob] Hopper going out, it allowed us to give Kane more time inside, rather than just as a winger. I think he showed signs of what he can do in there."

On Sam Cumming...

"Sam, up until he had that injury against Melbourne [in the pre-season], had been terrific for us. He had done all the training. He's a contested ball bull, but he's also a lovely kick.

"We are so excited about him playing footy for us. He's clean and he's got a terrific attitude towards the game. He will be out there for us very soon."

On Tom Lynch's influence on the young forward line...

"The leadership and maturity that he brings, let alone the fact that he's such an important and terrific player. There's all those elements that make Tom so important to us. He is a great leader of young men, and one of the best people you will meet and one of the best competitors on the ground. He is so important to our team."

On list management...

"We've got to balance our decision-making around our young talent and the great leaders and where they're sitting right now for us.

"When is the time to pull the trigger on that [targeting mature, established talent] sort of strategy? We're a year away from the Tasmania draft influencing selections, so we are understanding what might be available to us this year, and making a decision, versus mature talent, is one we are considering very carefully.

"It's a tough one right now, because of where we sit, and the ability to bring in talent, which would be long-term talent for us, versus, when is the right time to bring in some maturity to assist these guys."