RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick believes his team's upset 43-point win over the Sydney Swans at the MCG on Sunday shows it is on the right track.

The Tigers' victory snapped their six-game losing streak and seriously dented the Swans' finals aspirations.

"For the playing group, it's probably reward for effort," Hardwick said.

"There's been times when we've played OK and times when we've been disappointing, but the guys at no stage have lowered their expectations of each other.

"They've always been up and about, which is a real credit to them. It was really good for their self-belief to have a good win today."

Richmond started full of running but kept the Swans in the contest by continually turning the ball over.

However, the Tigers clicked into gear late, booting six goals to two in the final quarter.

"I think our skill-level has been OK at times," Hardwick said.

"There's certain times, obviously, when it's fallen away, but I think … when the self-belief starts to creep back in you're probably a bit more proactive than reactive, and that's what sort of came to the fore.

"That was like we were playing in the first 10 rounds of the year, which was really exciting for our fans to see."

Hardwick was full of praise for the job that Alex Rance and Shane Tuck did on Swans champion Adam Goodes.

Rance picked up Goodes when he was forward and Tuck did the job when he was in the midfield. Between them, they limited Goodes to 16 possessions.

Asked about Rance, Hardwick said: "We've found a player there, there's no doubt.

"Probably a lot of people had some doubts on Alex, also myself, I wasn't quite sure where he'd fit.

"But to see the guy compete the way he does against a Brownlow medallist is outstanding.

"He's going to be a long-term player for us, and Shane does his job in the middle as well, which is great."

Dustin Martin also won praise from the coach. Martin was off his game in the first half, with a dropped chest mark and missed shot at goal from 25m among his many errors.

However, he produced an impressive last quarter that included a brilliant running goal from inside the centre square.

"Dustin's probably reflective of the group," Hardwick said. "We're going to make blues, but we've just got to bounce back and get the job done, which we did.

"We still made some horrendous blues in stages today. But I thought Trent Cotchin and his leadership on-field to single-handedly get us going again was terrific."

Richmond has now won half a game more than 2010, but Hardwick is urging Tigers fans to not concentrate solely on his team's win-loss record.

"There's underlying factors there that make us believe we're going in the right direction," he said.

"We lead the League in getting games into our kids under 23 … so we've just got to be patient.

"But the reality is that wins are things that certainly take off the pressure and certainly drive guys to get greater success, so that was the pleasing thing today."

Hardwick was an assistant coach at Hawthorn when Alastair Clarkson built the Hawks into the powerhouse they are today, and he's confident that Richmond is following a similar trajectory.

"Hawthorn in 2006 (the second year of Clarkson's coaching stint) has mirrored our season thus far," Hardwick said.

"I think they won four out of the first five and then finished off winning seven or eight games for the year.

"But through the middle part of the year they had a real down patch. That happens with young groups.

"We as a whole have stuck fast to the way we want to play.

"The overriding factor is that the playing group itself has never dropped its enthusiasm, its intensity at training, and you're just glad that they get some reward for effort."