The critics are divided when it comes to Richmond.
Some believe they are not good enough to contend, some are indifferent and some are keeping the faith.
The analysis comes on the back of two straight wins which has seen the Tigers move into the eight as the competition’s second highest scorers - a stat which may have snuck under the radar.
On the back of their 27-point win over Collingwood last weekend, former Magpies coach Nathan Buckley dissected how Damien Hardwick has been able to turn things around after a subpar beginning to the season.
The Tigers lost to Carlton (Round 1), St Kilda (Round 3), Adelaide (Round 5) and Melbourne (Round 6), while beating GWS (Round 2) and the Western Bulldogs (Round 4), prior to successive wins over West Coast and the Pies.
Buckley has been impressed by the way Hardwick and his coaching staff have been able to “rewire” things at Punt Road.
“They got to a point where (people were saying) they don’t have this, they don’t have that and there was the slows on them,” Buckley said on SEN’s Whateley.
“I just reckon they have rewired really well.”
Buckley touched on a number of individual moves that have worked well for the Tigers, particularly in recent weeks.
“Dan Rioli wasn’t having an impact as a forward (last year) so he’s been schooled as a back. I reckon he’s playing the best footy of his career as a back,” he said.
“The last two weeks, we’ve had the second ruckman come in. So (Ivan) Soldo has come in with (Toby) Nankervis which gives you an extra (tall). It’s not just about the ruck role, it gives you an extra big body in the front half, and that’s allowed (Noah) Balta to go back.
“That may have always been the plan. ‘Noah was great at times forward, but we need to make sure we’ve got that intercept defender’. He’s played really well the last couple of weeks.
“They needed more pressure. (Liam) Baker went in behind the ball to solidify that. ‘We need more pressure because that’s what we base our game on’. Maurice Rioli has got the traits, he’s got a bit of up and go. That 10-minute period he played and you saw the excitement of his teammates to see those run-down tackles, to see the selfless play and setting up the goals.
“That could be anything. You’ve got the young kid now he feels like he belongs, he believes, is valued and trusted and his natural traits are going to make them better.
“Then you’ve got Dustin Martin sliding back in, Kane Lambert has slid back in. They still haven’t got Dion Prestia, still haven’t got (Nick) Vlastuin, (Dylan) Grimes is back in, (Josh) Gibcus is standing up as a back.
“Then Tom Lynch speaks about, ‘we just decided in the last couple of weeks to try and move the ball a little bit faster through the midfield’.
“So there’s not just the tinkering on personnel and the chess pieces, but there’s a little tinkering on the way they want to go about their offence that sets people up.”
Buckley believes the way things are turning for the Tigers makes them a “fascinating” side to watch as the season progresses and feels they could just be a “dangerous” proposition later in the campaign.
“Things are starting to open up. They’re not going to win it, they’re not going to be the same team, and they’ve acknowledged that. About a month ago, they acknowledged it, ‘we needed to make shifts’,” he added.
“The coaching staff, the connection with the players, this speaks to setting a new path forward, this is what we value you for, this is what we need you to do, this is your next challenge.
“I reckon they’re about to pop. They could well be a really dangerous team when we get to the end of the year as they continue to develop with this rewiring that’s taken place under our nose in the last month.
“The mechanic part of Richmond is fascinating at the moment and continues to take shape.
“I love seeing it from the outside in, when we see the evolution of the next best outfit just by shifting a few chess pieces around.”
The eighth-placed Tigers (4-4) will look to make it three wins on the trot when they take on 12th-placed Hawthorn (3-5) at the MCG this Saturday.
They then look ahead to the Dreamtime at the ‘G clash with Essendon the following weekend.