Richmond coach Adem Yze is in awe of his players following an injury-ravaged evening against Carlton at the MCG.
As the Tigers went down by a measly five points, fans should be left pleased with the effort and intensity they saw, in what was a stark contrast to the Gold Coast crack last week.
Richmond led at every change in a see-sawing affair before conceding the lead late in the piece but was still in the hunt come the final seconds of the game.
Key defenders Josh Gibcus (knee) and Tylar Young (concussion) went down before the half-time break, as well as Dion Prestia (hamstring), which forced Yze to switch the magnets around and play some of his stars out of position.
Following a five-day break, the Tigers managed to "grit" out an impressive performance, with Yze and the coaching staff noting the endeavour from his under-manned side.
"It's a good word, proud," Yze said post-game.
"And that's how we felt as coaches, we had players changing positions, changing roles, including positions they haven't played before... To show some grit and stay in the game.
"To their credit, we couldn't be more proud of our players.
"To lose two key defenders before half-time and Dion, who is a leader of our football club, and to respond the way they did, to keep toiling away, we were super proud."
During the second term, Gibcus came down from a marking contest clutching at his knee, adding another unfortunate chapter to his horrid run with injuries.
After playing 18 games in his debut season, the 20-year-old didn't feature in 2023 following a string of hamstring tendon issues.
Gibcus travelled to Qatar throughout the year and had finally put his soft-tissue worries in the rear-view mirror, before copping another whack.
"It is tough (news for Gibcus). There will be scans but it's not looking great at the moment. We are touching all the wood we can," Yze said.
"But if it is what we think it is or could be, then it's obviously gut-wrenching.
"Not only because of the season he had last year but because the type of player he is, the type of character he is.
"I feel for him... we will wrap our arms around him."
Throughout the evening, Richmond had their chance to put the sword to the Blues.
Returning key forward Tom Lynch had an opportunity in the final quarter to extend the lead while costly turnovers from Marlion Pickett and Shai Bolton led to opposition goals.
Bolton and Pickett were instrumental throughout the night, but some of their dare were at times doing more harm than good.
When asked about where you draw the line, Yze refused to take away that part of their game but admitted that there are "rules" to follow defensively.
"On offence, I really struggle to give them (Pickett and Bolton) rules," Yze said.
"On defence, there are rules. We want to defend a certain way and around stoppage, we got to be compliant.
"But around offence, I don't want to take away the flair of our good players. I think on the balance of it, they will make the right decisions more often than not.
"And I want our players, who have the ability to play that way, to play that way. I'll trust them to make the right decision... they'll know when they make a mistake, they'll review that.
"But I'll never take away their flair."
The Tigers won some fans back after their performance against Carlton but are still left without a win in 2024.
Yze and his men will look to rectify that record as they now prepare to face Port Adelaide following a nine-day break at the MCG on March 24.