Richmond star Matthew Richardson says it is no surprise that questions are being asked about the future of coach Terry Wallace after the Tigers' dismal start to the season.

And the lion-hearted 34-year-old acknowledges that Sunday's MCG clash with fellow struggler Melbourne looms as "D-day" for the club.

"Definitely, we know that and it's up to us, as simple as that," Richardson said on Tuesday.

"I mean it's going to be built up all week, Melbourne has had a poor start as well, they're 0-3.

"Going on pre-season predictions and last year, people would expect that we would win that game and obviously the pressure would be on."

Richardson said with Wallace in the final year of a five-year contract, during which he has never guided the Tigers to the finals, early losses were always going to put him under public pressure.

He admitted the last quarter performance in Monday's 47-point defeat to the Western Bulldogs was particularly disappointing and "obviously questions are going to be asked".

But he said club president Gary March had repeatedly stated in the past that Wallace would be allowed to serve out his contract.

"Probably half a dozen times I've heard him say it over the pre-season and the end of last year that Terry's contracted for the year and he'll coach Richmond out for the year," Richardson told Vega FM.

"They'll start looking at contracts towards the end of the year if need be.

"I don't know what else the president of our club can say to make the media back off and they're not going to, you've got to live with that and move on."

However, March refused to make any guarantees about Wallace's future when contacted on Tuesday, refusing to answer questions on the issue.

Meanwhile, Tigers recruit Ben Cousins, who has not played since round one due to a hamstring injury, predicted there would be "blood on the streets" if Richmond lost to the Demons.

But, after Richmond played two of last season's three best sides, Geelong and the Bulldogs, in the past three rounds, he said the next month would paint a clearer picture of where they stood.

"It has to start this week, we've got a huge month coming up where we are capable of turning it around," Cousins said on Nova FM.

"We can't look further ahead than this week but we need to beat Melbourne.

"They're in the same boat as us, they're desperate for a win too, so every game's a tough game, there's no easy ones."

The Tigers face North Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in the following three rounds.

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