© Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOSRichmond will chase an AFL premiership hat-trick and a fourth flag in five seasons in 2021.
Rare slices of AFL history beckon for Richmond in 2021 as they chase a premiership hat-trick and a fourth flag in five seasons.
No club has achieved the latter feat in more than 60 years, dating back to Melbourne's great era of VFL dominance.
But captain Trent Cotchin insists the big picture is the last thing on the Tigers' minds as they narrow their focus a week out from the season-opening blockbuster against Carlton on March 18.
"What we have learnt through both our challenging times and the good times is that it is the journey that brings most of the happiness," Cotchin said.
"To be three-time premiership players is really exciting and something that I think we'll reflect on at the end of our own journeys really fondly, but right now we have a job to do."
Unsurprisingly, Richmond have been tipped as flag favourites this season by rival captains, as revealed on Wednesday in the league's annual poll of all 18 club skippers.
Every club captain expects the Tigers to make the finals for a fifth straight season.
Cotchin dismissed any suggestion of complacency creeping in after a period of extraordinary success, which has brought premierships in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
"We have so many self-starters and that makes our job (as leaders) really easy," Cotchin said.
"The motivation is high, guys want to get better and grow and learn different roles or excel in their own."
Cotchin is entering his ninth season as Richmond's full-time captain and has led the club in a record 171 games, having overtaken Percy Bentley's long-standing mark during last year's finals series.
The 30-year-old may not be too far away from handing over the reins.
"I'm incredibly lucky, I've got an amazing lot of guys that are surrounding me that could easily step into the role that I play for our footy club," Cotchin said.
"But that's exactly what it is; each and every individual that walks into our footy club can be a leader in some way, shape or form.
"We feel as though we create an environment that allows them to do so."