DAMIEN Hardwick hasn't ruled out playing all three of Richmond's tall forwards together in 2015, as he uses the summer to work out his best attacking combination.
With two-time Coleman medalist Jack Riewoldt the obvious focal point, the Tigers trialed different set-ups around him in 2014, using Ben Griffiths and Ty Vickery.
The three played together on seven occasions - mainly in the absence of Ivan Maric until round 11 - with mixed results.
Hardwick said there hadn't been a firm decision made against trying the three together again, and the Tigers would continue to work on devising the best structure to increase scoring power.
"The three talls is probably the bane of my existence at the moment, trying to figure out how that's going to work for us," Hardwick told AFL.com.au this week.
"It's worked at various stages, then last year we go on a six or seven game winning streak without the three talls.
"The way we structure up will dictate (our forward set-up) a little bit but Ben Griffiths has got good running capacity so he can play a little bit further up the ground, Jack and Ty can play a little bit deep, Ty is up the ground at stages also.
"It's just how we structure up that forward line but the situation is, we've got to kick more goals and we'll be picking the side that's got to do that.
"There's certainly competition with spots up for grabs … and the reality is we've got to make sure we pick the best forward line that's going to kick goals."
This week, Riewoldt said Vickery - who copped a four-match sanction for striking Dean Cox in round 18 - had responded to being left out of the round 23 and elimination final teams by putting in a strong pre-season to date.
He added he believed the three could play in the same side again.
Ty set to fly, says Riewoldt
The colourful goalkicker also indicated there could be even more talls pushing for a berth in the senior team, with Liam McBean and newcomer Reece McKenzie impressing this summer.
"We certainly can [play together]. We've got some selection headaches down there with young Liam McBean training very well at the moment as well," he said.
"Training and games are a different thing, so I'm really excited to see those guys when the pre-season trials come around and a few of the intra-clubs.
"It's going to be great for the Tigers' faithful to see some young key forwards hopefully showing what they've got."
McBean finished fourth in the VFL's goal-kicking last season and is yet to appear at AFL level while McKenzie kicked 35 goals in 10 games in the TAC Cup before being drafted in November.
Hardwick said Tiger fans could expect Riewoldt's role in 2015 to be similar to recent years.
"I think he's probably the only player that's averaged over 50 goals for the last four years so he'll play the same sort of role," he said.
"He'll be at various stages deep and at various stages up the ground, whatever is best for the side, and he's happy to do that."
Hardwick also said he expected Riewoldt – who is again not officially in Richmond's leadership group – to keep progressing as a leader this season as he did in 2014.
Watch the above video for an exclusive extended interview with Damien Hardwick.
