Irish players John Phiri and Evan Boyle joined training on Friday morning, with the duo trialing for Richmond’s open Category B Rookie list spot.
Both players come to the Tigers with strong athletic backgrounds, Phiri being one of Gaelic football's brightest young stars while playing for Carlow and Boyle being an Under-20 All-Ireland winner with Kerry.
Phiri and Boyle will be fully immersed in Richmond's AFL program over the coming weeks as they battle it out for a Category B Rookie list spot.
Richmond's National Recruiting Manager, Rhy Gieschen, travelled to Ireland earlier in the year to scout potential AFL talent and is excited to have the pair join training.
"It's been on our radar for probably the last year and a half now and I was fortunate enough to go over to Ireland and we ran a combine," Gieschen said.
"We had 25 of the best athletes in Ireland and narrowed it down and then narrowed it down again to the two boys that are here today.
"They're great people first and foremost, blown away by their character and their desire to get over and learn. They're excited by the opportunity, we think they've got some real potential, athletic talent, but also what they've been able to achieve in their field over in Ireland with the Gaelic football in particular, there's some real potential there.
"They're trialing for the next two weeks. All things being equal, we'll pick one of those players at the end of that, and I think the fans will be excited.
"It's something that we've been talking about for a long time to get some Irish flavour on our list and we think both of these boys can contribute really strongly."
