Damien Hardwick might be considered the main man at Tigerland, but the Richmond coach says there’s no way he could do it alone.

According to Hardwick, his team of senior assistants - including Wayne Campbell, Justin Leppitsch, Danny Daly and Brendon Lade - are a critical component in the Tigers’ quest to climb up the ladder.

“The thing I found out most (when an assistant to Alistair Clarkson at Hawthorn) was how much you rely on your assistant coaches,” he said on 3AW’s Sports Today program last night.

“There is so much management these days, and my time is taken up a lot with communicating with players and communicating with coaches, which takes away from your day-to-day coaching.

“I think we’re very lucky with the quality of coaches we’ve got down at Richmond.  They bring a truckload of knowledge.

“Gone are the days when you rely solely on the senior coach.  It’s a real team effort...the amount of input you get from those guys is staggering, and they thoroughly deserve all the credit they can get.”

Hardwick is looking forward to his second year in charge of a young Richmond team, which he expects will make progress from the 2010 season.

“Your first year you get a free hit with regard to how you go about your footy, but this year the screws will tighten, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“We expect an improved performance, not only from myself and the coaching staff, but from the players as well.

“We’ll just try to improve in a certain number of areas, and go from there.”