Rich has played 46 games straight since being snapped up by the Lions with pick No.7 in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft.
The mature-bodied onballer was a runaway winner of the NAB AFL Rising Star in his debut season, averaging 17 possessions a game and leading the club in inside 50s.
He backed up by finishing eighth in the Lions' best and fairest last year but was criticised for failing to have the same impact as in '09, with some pundits suggesting the 20-year-old had already reached his peak .
On Monday Rich conceded that he'd failed to live up to his own lofty expectations in 2010, but said he'd worked had to improve his strength and endurance over the pre-season.
"Last year, compared to my personal standards it wasn't up where I wanted to be," Rich said.
"I've had a few minor little hiccups with my body this pre-season, but nothing much and it's been the best pre-season I've had so far. I want to improve my endurance and that's come along a fair way this pre-season.
"I want to step up in away so I can pull others along and make everyone pull their weight, do everything right and live by our club standards and values."
The Lions finished 13th last season and their disappointing performance was compounded by the loss of best-and-fairest winner Michael Rischitelli and star utility Jared Brennan to Gold Coast.
A rare positive for the club was the emergence of young players Jack Redden, Tom Rockliff and Todd Banfield.
Rich said it was important the young Lions took another step up this season to help take the pressure off ageing stars Jonathan Brown, Simon Black and Luke Power.
"Young players are definitely going to have to step up. We've been training hard this pre-season to do that and I can't see why we can't do that this year," he said.
"It's an exciting time for the club, having young players with numerous games under our belts. I can't wait to put it [the responsibility] on our shoulders and let Blacky, Lukey Power, Browny and those types just be part of the team."
