RICHMOND coach Adem Yze has addressed the exit of high-performance boss Ben Serpell, saying the club simply couldn't go through another injury-ravaged campaign.

Serpell joined the Tigers after the 2024 season but was unable to turn around a crushing injury toll that has severely affected the club's rebuild.

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Richmond has fielded 39 different players this season, with 12 currently on the injury list.

Serpell departed this week to take up "another opportunity", with Yze revealing his role would have been put under review at the end of the season in any case.

"We can't go through another season (like this)," Yze said on Friday. 

"We've had a couple of years where availability wasn't up to standard. We need to provide an elite high-performance environment, and that's what we'll be doing. 

"It's sad to see him (Serpell) go, but we'll shuffle the decks, and we can cater for losing him right now. 

"We've got enough staff that we can move people around and make sure that we still finish the season off strongly, and then we'll bring in the best person that we see fit."

Richmond (2-14) has shown plenty of resilience this year considering its injury woes, defeating West Coast in Perth in round eight despite just scraping enough players together to field a full squad.

The Tigers almost toppled in-form Carlton last week and they face another huge challenge on Sunday when they take on Melbourne at the MCG.

In a massive boost, Yze said 2024 No.1 draft pick Sam Lalor could be just a week away from returning from a partial Achilles tendon tear.

"I'll put a smile on my face because he'll get through training this week, and we're hoping that if he gets through next week, he might play managed minutes ... against the Hawks," Yze said.

But the Tigers will be more guarded with Jack Ross after the midfielder suffered his second concussion of the year in last week's two-point loss to Carlton.

"It's shattering," Yze said.

"He's a pure leader of our footy club and that act was the leadership act. 

"We were losing our way and someone needed to do something, and obviously he led the way in that area, but he just led with his head in the wrong spot.

"We'll be really cautious. That's his second concussion within the last six weeks, so we'll be really mindful that we'll probably need to give him a little bit longer before he comes back."