Richmond's best is yet to come: Hardwick

Jul 1, 2017 - 5:31 PM Richmond coach Damien Hardwick wants you to mark his words.

"We have still got a lot of improvement left in us," Hardwick said after the Tigers' stirring 13-point away victory against Port Adelaide on Saturday night.

"Our best footy, mark my words, is still in front of us.

"They're exciting, there's no doubt, I love watching them play ... we're really excited by the players we have got on our list.

"A lot of those guys are young and developing and will only get better as the years go on."

The Tigers rose to fourth spot with their 11.10 (76) to 8.15 (63) triumph over the Power.

Hardwick's team came from 16 points down late in the third quarter at Adelaide Oval to bank what the coach described as a "special" win.

The victory partly rectifies Richmond's poor record in close games this season - four of their five losses have been by nine points or less.

"We have been a good football club all year ... and been in more games than most teams, to be perfectly honest, but probably haven't got the reward we deserved," Hardwick said.

"And we learnt a few lessons at the start of the year with a couple of those close losses.

"We have won a lot of close games as well, we have won four games by under 15 points ... our players know what is involved in those close games."

Hardwick, in his eighth season as Richmond coach, said his current crop of players was playing a "completely different" style than his teams of past years.

"It is based on the fundamentals of the game really," he said.

"Our pressuring around the contest, out tackle numbers are high - it's a different template than what we have had previously.

"We're really confident that it stands up in big games.

"We have been in every game this year bar one ... I have been really happy with the way it's going.

"It's an evolving game, our players are constantly learning, are constantly getting better.

"We challenge them more and more every week and we love the way they're going about it."

Source: AAP