After 12 rounds, Richmond sits seventh on the ladder with five wins, but has the lowest percentage of the top 11.
The Tigers have been hit with injuries at a significant rate this year after two seasons of a healthy list.
Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon believes they haven’t passed any of their big tests so far this year, which separates them from the top teams.
“They’ve had three big tests against three big teams this year and failed them all dismally,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast.
“They lost in a big, big way to Collingwood by 44 points, they lost to the Giants by 49 and they lost to Geelong by 67.
“That’s three big tests that have been failed pretty badly against the three big dogs.”
The Tigers have another difficult assignment on Thursday night when they take on the Crows at the Adelaide Oval.
Adelaide is coming off a huge win over GWS and will still be burning from the 2017 Grand Final.
A loss could see Richmond fall to eighth spot and given they have the bye next week, they could soon be on the outside looking in.