b]Richmond Tigers confident more improvement will come but content to raise AFL bar gradually[/b]
* By Guy Hand
* From AAP
* November 12, 2010 5:31PMRichmond's players have been warned not to measure the club's success in 2011 by their win-loss record alone amid expectations they can be the competition's big improvers.
Skipper Chris Newman believes the Tigers, who started 2010 losing their first nine games before winning six of their final 13, are capable of good things in 2011.
But he has warned the players have set the target of gradual improvement rather than any set number of wins to determine how successful they are in following up a promising season under coach Damien Hardwick.
"It's really important that we build on that (2010)," Newman said.
"We don't want to measure our seasons on win and loss - it's just progressive improvement so throughout the pre-season we're going to be working on things and hopefully we can pick up where we left off."
The Tigers have entrusted rising stars Dustin Martin and David Astbury with two of the AFL club's most prestigious numbers for next season.
Martin will now wear the No.4 jersey made famous by club legend Royce Hart, while Astbury was handed Matthew Richardson's No.12 - both players heading into their second seasons after promising debut years.
Martin has already become one of the competition's most damaging midfielders, and Astbury swung between the forward and back lines before settling into a key defensive role late last season.
Astbury will resume full training early next month after off-season hip surgery and echoed Newman's thoughts the Tigers needed to work on getting better week by week.
"It's all about gradual improvement and from where we're coming from, it's not something that's quickly fixed," Astbury said.
"We've got a long road ahead and everyone realises that. It's about putting together continous improvement and showing we can be a powerhouse of the competition in the future."
The Tigers have also launched an innovative membership campaign, in which existing club members will be encouraged to recruit new ones as they aim for 75,000 members by 2014.
The majority of the current 42,000 members will be sent an emailed video this weekend, detailing how they can win cash prizes for bringing as many new members into the fold as possible.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-premiership/richmond-tigers-confident-more-improvement-will-come-but-content-to-raise-afl-bar-gradually/story-e6frf3e3-1225952822041
