There was a universally acknowledged grace period afforded Adem Yze when he took control of a footy club in free fall.
The Tigers had accepted their fate. The faithful were content - how could they not be after three flags in four years? But more than that, they understood some lean years were in front of them.
Richmond had embarked upon a period of transition. The head coach, the CEO and the overwhelming bulk of the playing list that had featured in such a fairytale period for the yellow and black were now just faces in framed photos that Yze infamously sought to pull from the walls early in his reign, that the club may point their focus forward.
That grace period is approaching its natural conclusion, and Yze's win-loss ledger needs semi-urgent squaring.
The club's draft focus was a necessary one, and its hauls, historic. As yet, glimpses are all fans have seen of the princes that were promised, as most of the clubs's cubs are perpetually hampered by injuries of varying significance.
SEE MORE: Five trade targets for the Essendon Bombers
The kids will be a large part of the pitch put to trade targets as the club get busy courting some of the league's brightest names, with the next phase of the rebuild on the horizon.
But just who are some of the names the Tigers have been tied to, and who are some realistic targets that will meaningfully lift this side's ceiling?
Take a look!
3Mitch Lewis
With the Hawthorn Hawks odds-on favourites to land the first domino in the key forward sweepstakes this off-season, in the form of Ben King, the Tigers will need to think laterally in finding an apt replacement for the ageing and waning Tom Lynch.
Mitch Lewis will likely be deemed surplus to requirements at Dingley if King indeed trades his cherry red Suns kit for the famed brown and gold stripes - he already finds himself fighting for position with the likes of Jack Gunston, Mabior Chol, and to a lesser extent, Calsher Dear in the Hawks' key forward room.
Dear, despite not seeing much game time this season, is more likely to renew his contract at Hawthorn than Lewis, given his father-son ties, younger age and significantly healthier injury history.
Lewis, at his best, is a presence not to be underestimated - a pack-crashing game-breaker who can clunk them and kick truly. He's what Lynch used to be, and the kind of player the Tigers are crying out for, forward of the ball. An unrestricted free agent at season's end, he'd cost the Tigers nothing in draft capital.
