Richmond face a difficult five weeks ahead as the club moves into hub life on the Gold Coast.
The Tigers put behind them a couple of poor weeks on the field by claiming their first win since the season restart, beating Melbourne by 27 points at the MCG on Sunday.
But the victory came at a cost for the 2017 and 2019 premiers.
Captain Trent Cotchin sustained a slight hamstring strain, reigning best and fairest Dion Prestia and ruckman Toby Nankervis both suffered syndesmosis injuries which will see them sidelined for some time, forward Tom Lynch has a broken finger while key defender David Astbury will remain out for another month with a knee issue.
With Bachar Houli and Shane Edwards not heading into the hub due to recent births and impending arrivals, the Tigers will be without a handful or so of premiership players for the next five weeks which according to Kane Cornes will further disrupt their premiership hopes.
“I think it’s all a little bit too hard for them,” he said on SEN’s Whateley.
“Are they as desperate as some of the other teams who haven’t tasted that success?
“You might think it’s pretty harsh because they’ve just had a significant win against Melbourne at the MCG through some adversity and injuries, but just watching them there’s not the hunger that there has been.
“It appears to me that they’ve come back in their intensity and their will to do everything that it takes to sacrifice what you need to win the flag.”
Cornes named a handful of reasons why the challenges for Damien Hardwick’s side could now be overwhelming.
“You couple that with significant injuries. This Prestia injury is going to be significant. How significant for their best player last year remains to be seen,” he added.
“Same with Nankervis and they’ve got some issues in the ruck regardless. Cotchin has done another hamstring, this is a pattern now for the captain.
“Players out of form, a couple of players not able to join the hub and we understand why. Not playing in front of crowds and away from the MCG.
“It just feels to me like the challenges are just building and they are now insurmountable for Richmond where I don’t think they can win the premiership this year.
“I can’t see them competing with the hungry teams. When it comes to the business end and you have to sacrifice everything you need to… And that’s not a criticism by any means. I understand that it’s tough to stay up for four years in a row. I just think there are going to be some teams go past them this year.
“It’s a massive challenge but maybe there’s that school of thought that, ‘Hang on, we’ll show you. We’ve done it before and we’ve still got some quality in there’. But for me, it’s more of a gut-feel just watching them that there’s not the hunger and there’s been warning signs from an effort level, a form level and the challenges that they’ve faced.
“They appear to be the team that’s been most affected by the uncertainty of this year.”
Tim Watson was a little bit more positive for the Tigers but acknowledges that beating the Demons doesn’t necessarily mean you are back in form.
“They showed that they’re not dead and buried,” Watson said on SEN Breakfast.
“But I think the next month is going to be extremely hard for them on the road without those players.
“Cotchin has got to be a real concern too. That’s not the first time that he’s tweaked the hamstring in the last 18 months.
“They are on the same page. They play a certain style of football and they are all invested in that football. I don’t think they were at their best yesterday, I don’t think Damien Hardwick would come away from that and say, ‘Yeah ok, it’s all clicked, we’re back together again now’.
“They just played a team that shot themselves in the foot time and time again and gave them the opportunity to turn the ball over.”
The Tigers will look to make it two wins on the trot when they take on Sydney at the Gabba on Sunday.