Richmond list manager Blair Hartley is confident the Club’s emerging, young talent can fill the void created by the transfer of several players to rival AFL clubs in the competition’s recent free agency and trade period.

The Tigers lost the services of Reece Conca (to Fremantle), Sam Lloyd (Western Bulldogs), Anthony Miles (Gold Coast), Corey Ellis (Gold Coast) and Tyson Stengle (Adelaide), while 2017 premiership player Jacob Townsend also is exploring his opportunities outside Punt Road.

Hartley, however, believes Richmond’s department of youth is ready to step up and provide solid playing depth for the Club in season 2019.

“We’ve seen Oleg Markov before and guys like Connor Menadue coming through. But the guys we picked last year, particularly the talls, we’re excited about what they can do as well,” Hartley said on a special off-season edition of ‘Talking Tigers’.

“And guys like Daniel Rioli and Jack Higgins have shown that they can go through the midfield and do some pretty special things.

“We feel like we’ve got a lot of growth from below that will give us that natural improvement, while also we’re going to the draft to freshen that bottom end of our list, which is critical for long-term sustainability of our list.”