RICHMOND'S outdated gameplan saw it get "left behind" last year, according to new co-captain Gabby Seymour.

The Tigers finished 16th last year with just two wins to their name, a far cry from seventh with six wins and a draw in 2024.

Oddly enough, one of the two 2025 victories came against perennial powerhouse Adelaide.

"It was pretty bizarre, to be honest, because we felt like we had a really invested playing group, we had people around the club who couldn't be working harder to bring the best out of us and get the program working, but things just weren't clicking and working together," Seymour told AFL.com.au.

"I think upon reflection, we maybe didn't adapt to the trends of the game, in terms of the gameplan and the speed of the game was evolving, and we got left behind last year. 

"At the same time, it gives you a fair beat of hope in terms of being able to get a good win over a side like the Crows. 

"We don't see this as a rebuild we're going through, we see it more as a transition and an evolution of our game. We've got some pretty serious talent on our list, so looking forward to seeing how it comes together."

While it may not be a complete rebuild, the off-season has certainly seen a re-tooling of Richmond.

Brendon Fevola is the sole remaining coach (and has been shifted from a development role to assistant), while player development manager Amelia Todhunter has also remained, but from general manager Jane Woodlands-Thompson down, everyone else is new, including senior coach Jarrad Donders.

Aside from the captaincy, Seymour is also facing life in a new role, the former volleyballer having moved from the ruck to key back to forward.

"It's a different life up forward, I feel like I've had to change my whole personality to be honest. I also busted my finger in the pre-season, so I wear a glove while playing, so that really fits into the whole dynamic," she said. 

"But honestly, absolutely loving it. It's very freeing to play up forward, and 'Fev' has been awesome for us as well, he gives so much confidence to the girls, tells everyone they're the best player in the world. You sort of feel like you're walking up here (in the sky) with him as your coach. 

"I'm really looking forward to the combination of myself, 'G' (Caitlin Greiser) and Olivia Wolmarans playing alongside each other as three talls. I feel like there's not many W teams now that have that three-tall combination. We've obviously seen that work to a lot of success in the men's game. What you can expect from us is we're going to make a contest. The big girls will try and bring the ball to ground as best we can, so really looking forward to seeing how that comes to life."

The Tigers kick off their 2026 campaign with a home game against Collingwood at Ikon Park, and are strong favourites against the injury-hit and rebuilding Pies.

Over pre-season, Richmond lost comfortably to North Melbourne, defeated Fremantle, and record single-figure losses against Hawthorn (three points) and Melbourne (seven).

"The pre-season matches have been awesome for us, and we're really grateful to have a number of opportunities to really grow our game. I feel like we've really seen growth through each of the four individual matches. Come up against some tough opponents as well, but if you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best," Seymour said.

"That's been a great opportunity, particularly in terms of our offence and ball movement, that's been the really big change. Previously, I think we were No.1 in the comp for 'LDL' (long down the line) kicks and attacking through contest.

"[Now], we're trying to control a bit more of our ball movement and trying to get speed on ball and punish on turnover, because we love that really exciting transition game."