Richmond sealed their status as one of the greatest teams of the modern era in 2020, winning back-to-back premierships, including three flags in four years.

They will now look to join footy folklore and become the seventh team to win three consecutive premierships if they can go all the way again in 2021.

So what looms as their biggest obstacle? According to former AFL recruiter Matt Rendell it could be off the field.

Rendell believes that the biggest question mark hanging over the Tigers this season is the fallout from coach Damien Hardwick's new relationship with a female club staffer.

It was revealed during the off-season that the triple-premiership coach split up with his wife Danielle - affectionately known as Mrs Hardwick - and had began a romance with a member of Richmond's commercial sales team.

Reports emerged that Hardwick's new relationship had caused tension at the club.

Speaking on SEN's Dwayne's World, Rendell posed the question of whether the Tigers are mature enough to overcome the controversy.

โ€œTheyโ€™re not too old,โ€ Rendell said on SEN radio.

โ€œTheir top five or six, and we all know who they are, are in their late 20s and early 30s, but theyโ€™re still not an old team and theyโ€™ve got plenty left in them.

โ€œYou know how theyโ€™re going to play. You know what theyโ€™re going to do and theyโ€™re going to be exciting again.

โ€œThereโ€™s only question mark over the club and thatโ€™s any fallout from the (Damien) Hardwick situation, which there could be.

โ€œI think itโ€™s a pretty mature club, mature players and I think theyโ€™ll be able to handle it, but you never know.โ€