SPECULATION swirled all pre-season around Richmond's leadership and whether Trent Cotchin was the right man for the captaincy.

He made an emphatic statement last Thursday against Collingwood, posting the highest score for the round in the Schick AFL Player Ratings.

The performance was so impressive that the midfielder returned to the top 30 of the player ratings for the first time since round three, 2014.

Cotchin's re-entrance into that upper echelon means it is the first time the Tigers have had three players ranked so highly since round 22, 2012.

The 2012 Brownlow medallist led his side in many facets of the match as the Tigers beat the Magpies by 19 points to start the season with successive wins.

Cotchin racked up 26 disposals, 582m gained and two goals. The eight inside-50s, three score assists, seven tackles, seven clearances and 11 score involvements he managed were all game-highs.

Further to that, two tackles he laid in the dying minutes on Tom Phillips and Adam Treloar showed how desperate the three-time best and fairest was to lead his side to victory.

"He was outstanding, emphasised by those two last-quarter tackles. Trent plays his best footy … when he stalks the opposition, and we saw that tonight," coach Damien Hardwick said after the match.

"He started us off really well, probably reflected the side a little bit during the second quarter, but his last quarter was huge, and that's why he's captain."

Along with Cotchin at No.28 in the player ratings, Richmond also has Brownlow Medal fancy Dustin Martin (No.21) and three-time All Australian Alex Rance (No. 30).

When Hardwick last had so many players ranked that highly, Cotchin was No.17, now-Giant Brett Deledio was at No. 21 and Martin was sitting at No.27.

It was a good week for ruckmen as well. Melbourne's Max Gawn entered the top 10 for the first time in his career, while Pies big man Brodie Grundy had the second-highest player ratings score of the week to break into the top 100