A NEW group of assistant coaches won't take long to jell under senior coach Damien Hardwick, Richmond assistant coach Andrew McQualter says.

Having just turned 30, he steps into an assistant role after three years in development at the club and will work closely with experienced assistant Blake Caracella on the midfield.

McQualter has been there during the rise and fall of the Tigers in the past three seasons, arriving at the club in a playing/coach role with the VFL side after an 89-game career with St Kilda and five matches with Gold Coast.

He acknowledged that the season just past was tough but said it was amazing how quickly a fresh feeling could permeate the club once pre-season starts.

And McQualter said new coaches Caracella, Justin Leppitsch and Xavier Clarke had all been around football for long enough to adapt quickly.

"Change is the only thing that is consistent in AFL footy, so I think everyone will be able to get on the same page quickly and move forward," McQualter told AFL.com.au.

They will need to as the Tigers look to reverse the fortunes of 2016 when they finished 13th on the ladder.

"Clearly we need to improve in all areas of our game," McQualter said.

"We just have to give ourselves a chance to improve, so that comes on the back of the boys working hard in the off-season and then, in the pre-season, setting ourselves up to be successful."

As McQualter talked, Kamydn McIntosh was boxing and Josh Caddy was doing leg weights – they are just two of the players who could improve Richmond next season.

McQualter played with Caddy and fellow recruit Dion Prestia in his one season at the Suns in 2012, and he remembered both having strong work ethics.

McQualter said although most clubs were similar, he was part of a team at the Saints that made Grand Finals and had players driving the team's direction, whereas the Suns were still finding their feet in their second season in the competition.

At Richmond he has built some resilience and he has faith the club's recent experiences will serve it well.

"The biggest thing [as a coach] is to build relationships, so I have been able to build relationships with the guys playing VFL and now my challenge is to extend my relationships with the AFL guys," McQualter said.

"We are going to look to improve our players in the contested side of the game and from there, the rest will come."