Since Damien Hardwick took over as Tigers coach in 2010, Richmond has gone from six wins to eight to 10 (and a draw) in his three seasons.
But even more importantly in McKenna's eyes, they have gone from learning to compete, to learning to win.
Gold Coast came into the AFL in 2011 with an extremely young list and has won three games in each of their first two seasons.
But as they approach 50 games in the league, McKenna said he was drawing similarities – and inspiration – from the Tigers' improvement curve.
"We all talk about Richmond's season last year. I think they're able to compete - now they've got to teach themselves to win. We're now entering the mode of being able to compete consistently," McKenna said.
"Their list is far more mature as far as age and games. (But) I'm wishing and hoping we can replicate that. We'd like to think because of our quality we might be able to do it quicker.
"Two years ago they (Richmond) were understanding what competing was like, last year they understood that and were stiff to not win another 10 games.
"You've got to learn to compete first, then you've got to learn to win and I think they're learning to win."
Gold Coast has one win and two losses in the NAB Cup and completed its final training session at Metricon Stadium on Friday morning before heading south to play the Sydney Swans at Blacktown on Saturday night.
McKenna said he had already seen improvement during the pre-season, despite last week's 13-point loss to North Melbourne in Townsville.
"We could have almost pinched last week. I haven't been able to say that in my three years at the club - we actually ran down a side, and we didn't do that last season."
Michael Whiting covers Gold Coast news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
