Damien Hardwick's has delved into his past as he starts reinventing Richmond with the appointment of Brendon Lade as an assistant coach of the Tigers.

Hardwick and Lade were premiership teammates at Port Adelaide during 2004, a time when Lade was one of the very best big men in the game.

Lade's career was marked by his blue-collar approach to the game and his craft. The big fella generally went about his footy with little fuss and bother. He fronted up week in and week out and did the job for the team.

Hardwick went about his footy in much the same fashion and success followed him everywhere - Essendon and Port Adelaide as a player and as an assistant coach to Alastair Clarkson at Hawthorn.

This method leading by deeds and not words appears to be just the recipe that's required at Punt Road. It is an approach at odds with how Terry Wallace went about things at Richmond and the results there were plain for all to see. Wallace approached this season determined to lower his profile, but then went out and got Ben Cousins. Game over.

So Hardwick is cleaning out the joint. Wayne Campbell is the sole remaining assistant coach and up to a dozen players are likely to go as well, among them hugely disappointing early draft selections Cleve Hughes and Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls.

But from this vantage point, what will be fascinating is how Hardwick handles another group at Punt Road, whose influence often outweighs their importance - the past players.

They're a proud and passionate group, but if the reports are also true they warrant a third and troubling adjective - meddlesome.

With the born-again Kevin Bartlett - whose arsenal includes a daily radio show - among their group, the Tiger past players believe they have a right not just to know about the events of the club but also to shape them.

This is where it gets tough for an incoming coach, having to acknowledge the history of the club without necessarily embracing it. Hardwick need not fall into the trap of becoming more "Tigerish than a Tiger" to sort of steal a quote from the legendary Tom Hafey, which is a mistake some of his predecessors have made.

Instead by simply being himself and pointing towards the three premierships in which he has been involved in the last decade, Hardwick can reinvent Richmond, getting by with a little help from his friends and not from anyone else.