Richmond has recovered from a bad start before — can they do it again?

SHANE Edwards says Richmond players believe they can repeat the past two years and recover from a horror start to the year to play finals. Is he dreaming?

AFL Round 5. Melbourne v Richmond at the MCG. Shane Edwards . Pic: Michael Klein

SHANE Edwards says Richmond players believe they can repeat the past two years and recover from a horror start to play finals.

The Tigers slumped to 1-4 after being completely outplayed by Melbourne at the MCG last night and now sit two wins and more than 40 per cent behind eighth-placed West Coast.

A fixture against another surprise struggler Port Adelaide on Sunday is followed by encounters against heavyweights Hawthorn and Sydney.

Richmond has been here before, making slow starts to the past two seasons before rallying to finish in the eight.

“The positive is there is still a fair bit of footy left in the season,” Edwards said on 3AW on Monday.

“We’ve dug deeper holes, but we can’t keep doing this if we want to eventually reach where we want to get to.

“We still have a lot of belief things can turn around pretty quickly.”

Edwards admitted Richmond was “panicking” when faced with intense pressure trying to move the ball from defence and said the Tigers would persist with youngsters such as Corey Ellis and Connor Menadue, who had just 11 disposals each against the Demons.

“Yes, we’ve taken a step back but we need to get games into those players. They’re going to have down games but we just need to make sure they keep playing.”

And he again defended captain Trent Cotchin, who was one of Richmond’s few shining lights on Anzac eve.

“Our record doesn’t reflect Trent Cotchin. Too much is left to too few and it’s mainly him.”

The Tigers will welcome back star playmaker Brett Deledio against the Power — asked if he would definitely line up on Saturday, Deledio told ABC radio: “put your house on it.”

RICHMOND’S SLOW STARTS

2015 — two wins, four losses after Round 6. Won 13 of next 16 games to finish fifth.

2014 — two wins, six losses after Round 9 and just three wins, 10 losses after Round 14. Won last nine games to finish eighth.

2013 — three wins, three losses after Round 6. Won 12 of next 16 games to finish fifth.