REGARDLESS of how scary its next five-week block looks, Richmond is emphasising the need to play with less fear.
The Tigers have made a sputtering start to the season, with successive losses to Melbourne and Geelong leaving them 2-3.
Now they enter a rugged phase, starting with North Melbourne this Saturday in Hobart.
Then Richmond plays Collingwood, Port Adelaide away, the Dreamtime at the 'G match against Essendon and Fremantle away before the round-11 bye.
Ruckman Ivan Maric said one of his team’s big problems this season has been playing without dare.
"You can't let the fear infect your mind and the way you play," he said.
"As soon as you second-guess yourself, the game is too quick.
"We need to just take it on, not think about the consequences.
"It's something we've spoken about - playing a bit safe, maybe, instead of just taking them on and not worrying about mistakes."
He said the Tigers need to work on their team defence, but generally become more consistent.
As most do in the AFL, Maric pointed to Hawthorn as the benchmark.
"We want to be able to just rock up every week and play our way," he said.
"You look at teams like Hawthorn - they go through a bit of adversity against Port Adelaide in the first quarter and they just keep coming back.
"That's what we want to be like."
And for the Tigers to improve, Maric said they must be honest with each other.
"We can look at the ladder and be frightened of it, but we need to focus on what we can control and that's training, improving,” he said.
"(We need to) speak to each other like men and tell each other what was good and what wasn't up to standard."
Maric was speaking before Tuesday training, when vice-captain Brett Deledio trained as he tries to return from a calf injury.
Deledio has been out of action since round one and the Tigers have missed him.
"He'll ... try to convince the coaches that he can play," Maric said.
"It's really early in the week, but we definitely need him.
"He's improving every day."
