The Tigers sit winless at the bottom of the ladder after six rounds but no matter how badly they finish, they will not be given a draft pick higher than no. 4 because of concessions to the new Gold Coast team.
While wooden spooners traditionally receive the first draft choice and another early pick if they have performed poorly over a number of years, Newman said he accepted why the concessions were no longer as generous.
“I don’t believe we need any handouts from the AFL - it is what it is. It is what it is,” Newman said on Thursday morning.
"We believe we’ve got the group to be able to take us forward at the moment.
“We’re concentrating on developing the group we’ve got. We’ve got recruiters who can do the job and find the right mix we need. We’ve got absolute faith that we’ve got the crew we need at the moment.”
It has been reported that the Tigers may look at trading away draft picks for experienced players but Newman said the injection of youth was one of the positives of the year to date.
“If there’s one thing we can take out of the year it’s such a vibrant group because of the youth we’ve got. When you cop those big losses it helps with the morale throughout the week,” he said.
“I think there are experienced players there and it’s up to the club if they go for those players but I’m really confident with the group we’ve got.”
Richmond takes on the League’s only other winless team Adelaide, one week after a 108-point thumping from Geelong.
The Tigers were put through a tough training session on Tuesday partly as punishment for their poor showing against the Cats.
“We lost by over 100 points so we’re kidding ourselves if we think we’re just going to come out and have a light session,” he said.
“We let ourselves down with winning the hard ball and that is something we really pride ourselves on and [coach Damien Hardwick] is trying to implement into the group.
"It was a fair bit of punishment. It was a really gruelling session but I think we got a lot out of it”.
It was a lighter session at Victoria Park on Thursday morning, with midfielder Trent Cotchin doing modified training as he looks to return from a hip injury.
Newman said Cotchin and Dustin Martin could be a chance to return for the Crows game.
“They’ve trained OK throughout the week but I’m not sure on selection. We’ve made a few changes so we’re trying to give everyone an opportunity who deserves it,” he said.
