Richmond coach Adem Yze says the Tigers will have healthy selection pressure as the injury list shortens in the next few weeks. 

Coming off an 18-point win over Essendon in Dreamtime at the ‘G on Friday night, Yze explained how the talent, effort and intent Richmond is currently playing with means there will be a competition for spots at the Swinburne Centre. 

“Really proud of the boys, not only because of the win, but because of the way we played. Contested possession was back to where we know it needs to be,” Yze said.

“When Patrick Retschko’s having 20-odd possessions and looking like he belongs on an AFL field, there’s no guarantee that when our wingers are available, and a few of our other boys that might be available in the next few weeks, there’s no guarantee that they’re going to walk straight back in. 

“That’s the position we need to be in. You want selection pressure. 

“If you play the right way, and the talent that we have coming back in post-bye, we will be really hard to play against.”

Retschko starred on Friday night, finishing equal-second in Yiooken Award voting after amassing an AFL career-high 27 disposals, career-high eight marks, five inside-50s, career-high nine score involvements, career-high six intercepts, three tackles and 499 metres gained.

He joined a number of Tiger youngsters who weren’t daunted by the big stage, including Steely Green (two goals, seven score involvements, five tackles), Tyler Sonsie (22 disposals, seven intercepts, six score involvements), Seth Campbell (22 disposals) and more.

“Patrick Retschko might not have been playing up until now, but he looks like a real quality AFL winger,” Yze said.

“While we’re going through what we’re going through, guys are getting opportunity. 

“Seth Campbell gets another chance to go and spend a lot of time inside as a pure midfielder, and he’s taken his game to another level. 

“Sam Cumming’s just a beauty, and I’m going to keep saying this, our players love playing with him, and we can’t wait for him to get to that 50-game barrier and when he does, he is going to be really hard to play against. 

“When we have guys who we are preaching to be good teammates out on the field, Tommy Burton, run the patterns and put pressure on, irrelevant of how many possessions you get, we’ll celebrate effort and behaviours.” 

Richmond now prepares to travel to Sydney next Saturday to face the Swans, who have sat on top of the ladder for most of the season.

“We got a huge opportunity against Sydney next week,” Yze said.

“On the road, a young team again, these scenarios, whether it’s a big occasion like tonight is, and Dreamtime is a big occasion for our footy club, or whether it’s on the road against a really strong team. 

“We get the chance to band together and galvanise again on the road and really put on a good show and a good performance.”