RICHMOND will not be distracted by the "external noise" that has followed its thrashing by Greater Western Sydney and will use the rest of this season as a springboard to bounce back in 2017, coach Damien Hardwick says.
Following the Tigers' 88-point loss to GWS last Saturday there have been reports of board challenges, a shake-up of Hardwick's assistant coaching team and renewed calls for Richmond to trade star players to fast-track a list overhaul.
But Hardwick said the blowtorch applied to the club over the past week had not distracted anyone at Richmond from the tasking of rebounding from a disappointing 2016.
"It's all external noise for us. We're focused on what we're doing here, we've got a fantastic board, a fantastic football department and we're working our way to get us back to where we need to be," Hardwick said on Thursday.
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"We have honest and up-front conversations here. We don't go outside; we don't get worried by external noise, it is just that.
"The people that matter are within these four walls."
Hardwick said the loss to the second-placed Giants and the 70-point defeat at the hands of ladder-leader Hawthorn a week earlier had accurately reflected the gap between the Tigers and the competition's best teams.
But the Tigers coach said his 13th-placed team should be more evenly matched against its opponent on Friday night, 12th-placed Collingwood.
"From our point of view we play a side that is fairly similar to us this week in Collingwood. They had a good win last week versus West Coast, so it will be a much more even competition," Hardwick said.
"We were playing some pretty good sides the last two weeks, they're better than us there's no doubt about that. We've got some work to do, we understand that."
Hardwick said the Tigers would use the final four rounds of the home and away season to kick-start their 2017 preparations.
"We're going to try new things. There's no point continuing to do the same things if you're not going to make the finals, it's an area of opportunity for us," he said.
"So as a coaching group we come with new plans, we come with new processes.
"Don't get me wrong, we still want to win. The players go out there trying their best every time, as a coaching group we do the same.
"But this is certainly an area of opportunity for us going forward into 2017.
"We feel we're a finals-calibre side … it will be a quick bounce from my point of view."
Hardwick said the make-up of his coaching team next year would ultimately be his call, with changes inevitable following the Tigers' performances this season.
"We've been unable to commit to our coaching staff at the moment so we allow them to explore their options," Hardwick said.
"They will be highly sought after, those guys, because they've been through finals and all this sort of stuff, although without winning one.
"We've got some quality people so that's not to say we won't take some back."
