Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has lauded his leaders and the Tigers' elasticity to help steer the club to its second win of the season in the form of a 24-point win over Geelong.
Both sides entered the match without key personnel, an issue Richmond has battled with for most of this season to be left with just the sole victory heading into the Friday night affair.
Veteran pair Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin were utilised in attack as the Tigers went into the match with a midfield-heavy unit, only for the duo to combine for seven goals and help lead the yellow and black over the line in a fashion not seen since their premiership-winning window several years ago.
Speaking after the win, Harwick expressed his pleasure with how his group approached the task, managing to snap Geelong's five-game undefeated run and find themselves back in the winner's column.
"I'm just proud of our footy club overall. We asked some guys to play some foreign roles and they've stepped up and they've executed," the triple premiership coach said.ย
"That's the most pleasing thing. I thought our leaders have been great, just the way they've continued to promote the positive messages that we've been trying to portray and they've done a wonderful job of keeping the energy up."
Richmond's key defensive pair of Noah Balta and Nathan Broad were significant in the win, keeping star Cats Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron to three goals and one goal respectively.
It was just the second occasion since Round 17 last year where Cameron was limited to less than multiple majors in a match, with Broad managing to negate the former Giant's impact in the front of goal, with most of Cameron's damage occurring further up the field.
Broad missed Rounds 3-6 due to suspension for a dangerous tackle on Adelaide's Patrick Parnell, with Richmond's rearguard struggling to compete in his absence.
Hardwick spoke highly of both Balta and Broad, believing the latter is unheralded at times from outside of Punt Road's four walls.
"I thought 'Broady' did a wonderful job on Cameron," Hardwick said.
"It's funny. Nathan Broad, whilst in our four walls he's really highly regarded, he probably doesn't get the respect outside that.
"The four games he's missed, as harsh as it was, were crucial. All those sort of players that he generally takes, they were hurting us.
"We're really pleased that he's back in the side and starting to understand how important he his."
Broad, who falls out of contract this year, looms as the Tigers' next retention target down back after announcing new deals for Balta, Dylan Grimes and Tylar Young on Thursday.
Hardwick joked the Western Australian may hold off on putting pen to paper after getting the better of arguably competition's best player in Cameron.
"He's out of contract isn't he? He's playing hard-ball, I suppose," Hardwick said with a grin.
"He won't answer his manager's call this week. He'll be wanting too much money."
Richmond will be hoping to string together consecutive wins for the first time this year when they clash with Essendon at the MCG next Saturday for the Dreamtime at the 'G match.
