Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has praised his club's leaders for the Tigers' turnaround in form, which has seen them notch three consecutive wins after a slow start to the year.

The Tigers beat Essendon by 13 points in Saturday night's Dreamtime at the 'G clash, which followed strong victories over Collingwood in round seven and Port Adelaide last week.

Hardwick said he challenged captain Trent Cotchin, star Brett Deledio and ruckman Ivan Maric at half-time against the Bombers for more of an influence at stoppages in the second half. Their ability to even up in the key areas was the impetus for an important, if not scrappy, win. 

"It's a great sign for our leaders to stand up. They're playing good consistent football for a longer period of time which is really important for a side pushing forward," Hardwick said.

"For us they're good wins, but they're not pretty wins. But it's good to win ugly."

WATCH: The best highlights from Richmond’s Dreamtime win over Essendon

He said criticism of the club's leadership group in recent times, particularly in their 2-4 start to the season, was unfair given the group of senior players had barely been in the same team through fitness concerns.

The Tigers have won four of five games Deledio has played, and they lost three of four when he was missing with an Achilles injury.

Hardwick noted his versatility as an important piece of the Tigers' mix, but said the availability of their senior players made for a more settled Richmond line-up.

"It's no coincidence that they're all of a sudden all in the same playing together that we start to win some footy games. And [it's] the same as last year (when the Tigers won the final nine games of the home and away season to push into the finals). They're really important players to us," he said.

"They give us good structure, they give us good leadership on the ground, and they're improving week by week."