Richmond will miss out on snaring the next Nick Stevens or Jade Rawlings at the AFL pre-season draft after confirming it could not afford a big-name recruit because of the club's terrible financial plight.

The Tigers have already started preparing for next season by delisting six players and culling the football department that served under ex-coach Danny Frawley.

But despite new coach Terry Wallace's plans to revamp the playing list, Richmond conceded its financial restraints means it hasn't got the cash to claim an uncontracted rival player.

The Tigers will have the No.1 pick at the pre-season draft for finishing last in 2004, but football director Greg Miller said drafting a gun recruit might be beyond them.

Richmond is expected to post a loss of at least $2 million this year.

Despite room in the salary cap, Richmond simply cannot afford to pay another high-profile player behind Nathan Brown, Matthew Richardson, Kane Johnson and Darren Gaspar.

"We're a little hamstrung in terms of the pre-season draft where we've got first choice, (because of) the financial limitations on the club at the moment, hence the ... reduction in the staff and the changes we've been forced to make," Miller told radio station SEN.

"It's purely budgetary, purely financial-wise.

"We had a very bad year marketing-wise and fundraising-wise this year."

Despite Wallace's fat contract - estimated at $2.5 million over five years - Miller said Richmond's football department expenditure would be among the bottom quarter of clubs in 2005.

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