ADEM Yze has lauded "the future" of Richmond after his first win at the helm in a thrilling upset over Sydney on Sunday evening.
Getting over the line by five points, the Tigers did it without key playmakers Tom Lynch and Liam Baker on the field in the final minutes.
TIGERS v SWANS Full match coverage and stats
"'Lynchy' copped a knock to his knee and 'Bakes', he was just really tired," Yze said post-match.
"But to be able to play out those last couple of quarters with some older players off the ground is something that we're really proud of … for our younger players to respond and the effort they were putting on, like Maurice (Rioli jnr)'s chase down in the last quarter, the pressure that Seth Campbell was putting on, Rhyan Mansell going forward.
"That's the future of our footy club, so for them to be able to do that in those moments against a quality team in Sydney, we're really proud."
Baker, who will likely be looked at by the Match Review Officer for a clumsy high hit on Swan Lewis Melican, is out of contract at the end of the season, and playing the kind of footy that has him in high demand at other clubs.
"We'll give him the world if he wants to stay at our footy club," Yze said of Baker.
"If he decides to go, well then that's the nature of the game, but while he's here we just want him to play free and just enjoy his footy, and make that decision when the time comes."
The Richmond vice-captain finished the game with 21 disposals and two goals as an important part of the win.
He also laid six tackles as part of a greatly improved pressure game from the Tigers on the whole. After only laying 32 tackles for the game last week in a loss to Port Adelaide, the club recorded 60 against the Swans, a metric that proved vital to the narrow victory.
"We trained it and we spoke about it," Yze said of his side's pressure.
"We weren't happy with the way that we pressured last week, we were just a step off. It's unlike us, it's not a Richmond type of game if we only lay 30 tackles. So, to the players' credit, to the leaders' credit, they recognised that during the week, and we trained it."
On the topic of pressure, Sydney coach John Longmire was quick to acknowledge Richmond's strong performance.
"Let's tip our hats to them, first and foremost," Longmire said.
"They put enormous pressure on the footy, we fumbled a bit and then gave them looks. And once you do that, they were able to get the ball forward, and we weren't able to score off turnovers easily and they were."
Another concern for Sydney, which still sits with a 3-1 ledger, is the availability of defensive leader Dane Rampe, who was subbed out of the game at half-time with hamstring tightness.
"I'm hoping that it's OK, but also knowing that Dane's a pretty tough bugger. And so, we've got a six-day break, got to get to Adelaide this week, so we won't know until he gets a scan but obviously it was concerning enough to sub him," Longmire said.
Aaron Francis played in the VFL earlier in the day, and looks the likely replacement should Rampe be unavailable, while Sam Reid only played a half in the twos before being pulled with a tight quad.
More positively, recruit Taylor Adams played two and a half strong quarters in the VFL as he vies for his Sydney debut after a knee injury in the pre-season.
