RICHMOND'S trio of small forwards have looked to their Hawthorn counterparts to spur their improvement, with the similarities stretching beyond young gun Daniel Rioli and his brilliant uncle Cyril.

A key plank in the Hawks' 2013-15 premierships was the combination of Norm Smith medallist Rioli with Luke Breust and Paul Puopolo, with the trio combining their goal sense with defensive pressure. 

Tiger Rioli and his sidekicks Dan Butler and Jason Castagna have taken the same path this season, with their tackling a backbone in a revamped Richmond game plan. 

"We're quite similar to that trio of 'Junior', Puopolo and Breust, with myself, Dan Butler and 'Georgie' (Castagna)," Rioli told AFL.com.au.

"We do tend to look to those guys to get some tips. 

"If you bring that X-factor, and small forwards can do that, that's a big part of the AFL right now." 

Rioli, Castagna and Butler combined for just one goal against the Western Bulldogs in the Tigers' narrow round seven loss, but their tackling pressure has not dipped in the demanding roles they are playing. 

While backing the group to rebound on the scoreboard against Fremantle, Rioli challenged the club's forwards not to let their defensive standards slip.  

"Our forward pressure in our front half has been extraordinary, but we've got to keep that up," he said.  

"We'll be pretty hard to beat if we keep that up. We've trained it all year this year, so we've got into that habit."

After being mentored by half-forward Shane Edwards in his first season, Rioli has taken young small forwards Shai Bolton and Tyson Stengle under his wing this season. 

The 20-year-old hoped to see the pair pushing for senior selection later this season, with both hitting strong VFL form in round seven. 

"Shane took me under his wing in my first year at the club and I've taken that onboard and now with young guys like Tyson and Shai at the club I can try and show them the ropes a little bit," Rioli said. 

"Sometimes they're a bit hard to control, but they're going good … I can't wait and hopefully soon enough they'll get a gig. To play alongside them would be a really good feeling. 

"They know what they're doing now, so I kind of let them loose a bit, but they still come up to me if they need anything."