Richmond coach Damien Hardwick paid tribute to Tiger 200-gamer Brett Deledio following last Saturday’s thumping 113-point victory over Greater Western Sydney at Spotless Stadium.

Deledio picked up 34 disposals and was one of Richmond’s best in his major milestone match.

“He’s an important player to us.  You only watch the highlights tape that we showed the players last night, and it’s extraordinary what he can do,” Hardwick said at his post-game press conference.

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“I think he’s a player that gets measured harshly and, funnily enough, I’m one of those guys, too . . . I do mark him hard, but it’s because I think he’s going to be one of the great players of this game.

“He’ll get better again, which is important to us, but he’s a very good player.”

Hardwick outlined how Deledio could take his game to an even higher level.

“That’s how you become a great player – you win finals – and that’s our challenge as a footy club.  More importantly, it’s a challenge for Brett and our leaders to get us back there and make sure we start winning some games,” Hardwick said.