RICHMOND managed a rare goalless quarter against Fremantle on Sunday, but coach Damien Hardwick was delighted with the subsequent response from his players.

Hardwick implored his weary men for a strong finish and the Tigers piled on eight goals to Fremantle's nil in the final term to set up the 77-point win.

"We've played three games in 12 or 13 days and the guys were tired, to be fair," he said.

"We probably lacked energy, but credit where credit's due, we challenged them in the last quarter and the pressure went up. We won contested ball, we won tackles, all the stuff we were hoping to do, they did.

DIMMA ON THE WIN: Watch Damien Hardwick's full media conference

"You've got to give them credit, this team, when they get questioned, they respond and then some, and I was really proud of the way they performed.

"I wish that dominant last quarter had been a dominant third quarter, so the game wasn't up for grabs at three-quarter time, but we have been pretty consistent over the course of the year. So, we'll look at it and take it for what it was."

Hardwick said Fremantle's game style based around dominant ruckman Aaron Sandilands forced the Tigers to find a way to win with a different approach while losing the clearances 22-44.

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"To be fair, we probably expected to lose the clearances. What did he (Sandilands) have, 25 hit-outs to advantage? But it's probably what you do from that, set up the turnover and from there," Hardwick said.

"The game these days is effectively a turnover-based game, so we always knew that was a strength of ours. Funnily, we still scored more from stoppages. It's just so hard to stop, our guys showed great endeavour in there.

"When you've got a guy like Nat Fyfe. I actually found myself just watching him. He's an incredible player. He took five contested marks in the first half, he was in my opinion by far the most dominant player on the ground. I thought he was sensational.

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"We did get beaten in contested ball, a lot off the back of clearances. But I thought our guys' endeavour was good. They're an uncontested side that like to play that way and it was probably a Fremantle-type game.

"It was uncontested, not normally our forte. We can play other ways to win games, but it's probably not the way we want the game to look.

"But we took what the opportunity gave us. We took over 100 marks today, which is unlike us, so it was good to see another side of us that we can score going forward.

"We look at four-week blocks. Fremantle were 2 and 2, Collingwood were 3 and 1 when we played them. We don't really look at the ladder positions, we look at the form ladder.

"We're happy with our form, they guys are playing a consistent brand of footy that our fans and coaches can see and, more important, that our players can play. So, we're going OK."

Midfielder Dion Prestia will be sent for a scan on a calf ailment that forced him off in the third quarter, but Hardwick expects skipper Trent Cotchin, a late withdrawal with fluid on the calf, to be ready to play against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium next Sunday.

"They (Kangaroos) are unbelievable, they just get it done. It's the thing you admire about the way they play. Any time you play a North Melbourne side, you're always up for a fight. That's why people love them and it's going to be a great contest next week at Etihad and we're looking forward to the challenge on their home deck," Hardwick said.

Asked for his thoughts on two Richmond goals overturned by score reviews in the second quarter, Hardwick said: "I think you got my correspondence on that last week. Not much has changed, it would be fair to say."