Richmond coach Damien Hardwick will trial a few things in an effort to bridge the gap

RICHMOND will trial a few things against Hawthorn as it seeks to pull some ground on the elite sides in the rundown to its first finals appearance in 12 years.

RICHMOND will trial a few things against Hawthorn, including playing two ruckmen, as it seeks to pull some ground on the elite sides in the rundown to its first finals appearance in 12 years.

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick said his team needed to narrow the gap between sides such as his and the likes of Hawthorn, Sydney and Geelong.

“We feel there is a gap between the top (three) sides and us, so we need to eradicate that gap as quickly as possible,” Hardwick said.

“The way we have been playing is about a six or a seven out of ten, so we certainly have some upside in regard to that.

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“They (Hawthorn) are a quality side and if we go about it in the status quo, then they are probably going to beat us on ability.

“We’ll do a few things and try and manipulate their structures as best we can. They’ll be doing exactly the same to us, it’s going to be a really good test.”

Hardwick said the Tigers had been toying with the idea of playing a tandem ruck duo of Ivan Maric and Orren Stephenson for some time.

The loss of Ty Vickery, due to concussion, helped to pre-empt the move, but Hardwick believes the success of the top three sides in using multiple big men through the ruck this season has proven an asset.

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“It is a possibility,” Hardwick said when asked if all three could play in the future, with Vickery certain to return next week.

“Geelong play two (ruckmen), Hawthorn play two, Sydney play about five ... it is something that we look forward to bringing into our game.

“Orren is a real competitor ... Ty will obviously come back next week and there is a young kid call (Liam) McBean who we look forward to playing at some stage.”

The last time these teams met, in Round 9 last year, the Tigers smashed the Hawks by 62 points.

But Hardwick said that would mean little heading into tomorrow’s game, saying the Tigers needed to at their best to repeat the victory.

“We know we are capable of beating Hawthorn, but we need to play at our absolute best to get that done,” he said.

He admitted that the Tigers’ defence would be tested against the likes of Lance Franklin, who kicked eight goals on his return from injury last week, and Jarryd Roughead.

“With Franklin, Roughead, (David) Hale and even (Jack) Gunston to a degree, we’ve got some guys in (David) Astbury, (Troy) Chaplin and (Alex) Rance that will go head to head at various stages,” he said.

“Their forward line is the best of anyone’s at the moment. They’re a great side and we’re certainly going to have our work cut out down there.”