Richmond midfielder Monique Conti has lauded the young brigade of Tigers who have made their presence known at the Club ahead of the 2025 season.
With just 24 days until Richmond's Round 1 clash against Sydney at North Sydney Oval on Friday 15 August, Conti believes now is the time for the young Tiger cubs to take the next step.
"We have (recruited well). We've got some really incredible young talent. We'll be exciting to watch, for sure," she said on Fox Footy's AFL 360.
Those fresh faces include the ever-improving Issy Bacon, who has taken strongly to her new role in the midfield, alongside new recruit Lulu Beatty, who is fitting into the defensive six.
It's exactly the improvement and injection of youth required, Conti believes, to elevate the list from a finals appearance, to actually winning when it counts.
"I'm really confident with our game this season. We've showed glimpses (last year)," she said.
"We made finals last year but we lost against Port, so that's definitely making us really hungry. We don't just want to make finals, we want to win finals."
It's not an easy feat to get there, Conti admits.
With just 12 games to secure a spot in the finals, finding consistency in performance will be vital for the Tigers.
"The challenge is, what separates the really great teams like North Melbourne, Adelaide and Melbourne, to maybe the bottom end of the ladder, is that consistency and putting those four quarters together," Conti said.
"If we can get (to the level) of those teams that can do that, I think it's going to really challenge our competition."
It comes with perfecting the basics.
"Just focusing on our game and what we can control. Nailing our defence, our system and focussing on just us at the moment," Conti said.
The five-time All-Australian is motivated by the prospect of the season now being in arms reach.
"Just knowing games are so closed, it's really motivating," Conti said.
"We've only got 12 games, we can't be slow out of the blocks."
A Match Simulation against Carlton at Ikon Park is set for this Friday night from 5pm, and will be live streamed on the Richmond website.
The following week, the Tigers will take place in an official Practice Match against Hawthorn. Proceedings are scheduled on Sunday 3 August from 12pm at Ikon Park, with the team to be named the day before.
You can purchase your tickets for the 2025 season here.
