Baptisms of fire don't get much hotter than the one which confronted Damien Hardwick last year.

Nine matches in, Richmond's win-loss record read a sorry 0-9 with a percentage of 56.2 and the question was seriously being asked whether they would become the first club since Fitzroy in 1964 to go through an entire AFL season without a single victory.

But Hardwick held his nerve and the worm turned.

Six victories, the wooden spoon avoided, a Coleman Medal for spearhead Jack Riewoldt, a splendid first year from leading draft pick Dustin Martin.

It gave Hardwick - a man who had enjoyed premiership success as a player and assistant coach at his previous three clubs - something tangible to work with.

"We're expecting our win graph to trend upwards this year, there's no doubt we'd be disappointed if it didn't," said the second-year coach.

"The hard thing about it as a coach is you don't sit down and think win, loss, win, loss, how you think you'll go forecasting forward.

"All we do is focus on the processes both offensively and defensively.

"If those things happen and go according to plan you'll win a lot more games than you lose.

"We haven't put a win-loss ratio on it but we'd be hoping we'll go a hell of a lot better than last year."

Counter-intuitively, the key to kicking more winning scores could be getting less goals from Riewoldt, whose breakthrough 2010 season was rewarded with All Australian selection and the club's best and fairest award.

But his haul of 78 goals represented a third of those kicked by the club, with no-one else contributing more than 15.

In comparison, premiers Collingwood had nine players kick more than 20 majors, headed by Alan Didak with 41.

Having shown some encouraging pre-season form, Ty Vickery is likely to get first crack at the other key forward post, with Jayden Post and Ben Griffiths - when he recovers from shoulder surgery - other marking options.

Hardwick is convinced the new substitutes rule will see the end of clubs playing two specialist ruckmen, with Post and Vickery both capable of giving Angus Graham or Andrew Browne a chop-out.

The midfield looks to be the Tigers' strong suit, with Trent Cotchin, Martin and a fit-again Nathan Foley providing the silk alongside recruits Shaun Grigg and Bachar Houli, plus Shane Edwards, Mitch Morton and Daniel Jackson.

Two-time best and fairest winner Brett Deledio will also spend some time in the middle, although it is across half-back where he is perhaps most valuable in a young defence where much is expected of David Astbury.

And then there's skipper Chris Newman, a favourite of a coach who also made his name as a no-nonsense defender in his playing days.

The biggest departure from last year is Ben Cousins, although Hardwick is confident the 2005 Brownlow medallist has left a lasting legacy despite spending only two seasons at Punt Road.

"The thing about champion players - and Matthew Richardson was the same - is that they pass on their tricks to the younger guys," said Hardwick.

"Ben passed on a lot of knowledge to some of our midfielders.

"It's hard to measure how much it improves others but it definitely does."

Pre-season form has been patchy, with Hardwick furious following a scoreless final quarter in the last game against Adelaide.

They can't afford that to continue into a brutally tough early start to the 2011 campaign.

A quirk of Richmond's record in 2010 was that all six of their wins came against interstate opposition - two of them on the road in Adelaide and Brisbane.

Their first five matches this time are all against Victorian sides - and they will start as big outsiders in the opening four when they take on Carlton, St Kilda, Hawthorn and Collingwood.

But win one or two of those and one of the most passionate supporter groups in the league will really be up and about.

And the desperately dark days of early 2010 will seem a world away.

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