NEW LADDER-LEADER West Coast has set the benchmark as the team to beat, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says.
The Eagles kicked 130 points against the competition's stingiest defence and asserted itself as a genuine premiership contender with a 47-point win in front of a record crowd of 57,616 at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
Adam Simpson's men rode Richmond's famed forward pressure as well as any teams has this year and made their opponents pay for poor skill errors with incisive, counter-attacking ball movement.
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But it is West Coast's midfield dynamic that makes it the League's best team, according to Hardwick.
"They've got a really good balance of what they do inside and outside the contest, they've added some speed which complements them and they're really hard to stop when they're moving the ball so crisply as they were today," Hardwick said.
"I think they took 90-odd contested marks which is unlike us to give up that many, but when they control the ball like that, they're always really hard to stop.
"According to us they probably are (the best in the League) at this moment."
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The loss was Richmond's first since round two against Adelaide and followed an energy-sapping win against North Melbourne last Sunday.
Despite a temporary dip in form, Hardwick insisted there was no cause for concern.
"We've been up for a fair while. (We were) down this week (and) we'll bounce back next week," he said.
"You go through ups and downs and we probably weren't at the level that we'd like to be.
"We've had some really tough games over the last couple of months.
"North (are) always tough, (we) played Melbourne and Collingwood in there - huge tough games as well - and played an outstanding side today.
"The competition's so even. You can see by being off 10 per cent today what happened for us.
"So we've played some really good opposition and unfortunately we lost an encounter today that we'd like to win."
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Once-maligned key forward Jack Darling was outstanding again with a career-best six-goal haul against star defender Alex Rance.
Darling reeled in 15 marks - six contested - notched 21 touches and dished off three score assists in a performance that could signal a changing of the guard in West Coast's forward ranks.
Josh Kennedy chimed in with three goals but took a back seat as his junior teammate - marked by the opposition's best defender - took command of the Eagles' attacking arc.
"Jack I think, probably by his own admission, probably had a disappointing year last year by all accounts, but he's always been a terrific player," Hardwick said.
"And Josh has been one of the premier key forwards in the competition for the last four or five years.
"They've always got a strength up there and especially when they're getting the ball up there with relative ease through our lack of pressure - they're always going to score."
Hardwick also voiced his frustration at the lopsided free kick count, which favoured the home side 21-10.
"I think you probably always know that you're going to be on the other side of the ledger when you go away," he said.
"That's just how it works."
