RICHMOND coach Ryan Ferguson said the club would "absolutely embrace" the independent review into the AFLW program as an opportunity "to get better".
The Tigers on Tuesday announced they had appointed former GM of footy at Carlton Brad Lloyd to conduct the review for the club's AFLW program.
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The review is set to cover everything on- and off-field – from coaching and player development to culture, list strategy and high performance. As part of the review, Lloyd had observed preparations for Saturday's match against Gold Coast, and is set to remain embedded in the program in the coming weeks before presenting to the Richmond board and finalising the review in December.
The announcement came in what Ferguson called "a whirlwind of a week", with three players in Laura McClelland, Poppy Kelly and Emelia Yassir celebrating their 50-game milestones and Shelby Knoll debuting after working and waiting for three years through injury.
"The whole program's excited to get better and the club's investing," Ferguson said after their season came to an end with a 14-point loss to the Suns.
"It certainly adds, you know, a whole lot of energy to the week which I was interested to see how it played out today … We tried to [embrace it] but the game didn't play out that way.
"I'm always an optimist and always looking forward … In terms of building our program, this group has done a lot. And obviously we need to take steps to continue that.
"A step back this season, no doubt. [But] I think we're positioning to make those changes."
The loss means that the Tigers will finish the year in 16th place, after two wins late in the season against Adelaide and Collingwood.
For now, Ferguson said it's "business as usual", with exit interviews for players and other regular end-of-season duties.
Meanwhile, Gold Coast coach Rhyce Shaw was honest about the toll that a difficult season, also finishing with two wins, had taken on his own side.
"It's difficult when you are losing so much," he conceded.
"We've had some really good performances and haven't gotten over the line … But the girls will just keep fighting and we keep showing up and today's a great reward for that, I reckon. I'm really proud of that group."
Looking ahead to the draft and trade period, Shaw is all too familiar with the Suns' Academy, having been appointed its Director of Coaching in 2023.
Finishing last on the table, the Suns now hold the No.1 draft pick, with a number of exciting Academy prospects like Ava Usher and Sunny Lappin on the horizon.
"We've put a lot of work into the Academy – spent a lot of money, put a lot of time, a lot of resources into work. We do a really good job of promoting AFL in Queensland, growing the game," he said.
"Hopefully we get some reward with a couple of players in the draft, which I'm really confident we'll do. But it's just a really exciting time for our football club and moving forward.
"Even knowing we haven't had a great year, I think the journey ahead looks really good."
