Richmond coach Damien Hardwick was pleased his players could win “ugly”, after the Tigers ground out a 27-point win over GWS at the MCG on Saturday.

In a hardly-fought contest, Richmond’s five goal to nil second quarter proved to be the difference.

"It was probably a frustrating game. I thought we moved the ball reasonably well at various stages, we just couldn't quite get that finishing touch inside 50," Hardwick said.

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"They've got elite running capacity. They get numbers back and then they charge out so they're going to be a really impressive side.

"We're still not playing to the level that we'd like. We get away with the win today but I thought GWS showed us how good they were going to be."

Despite the Giants' damaging outside run, Richmond's 128-98 advantage on contested ball showed how far the Tigers have come in that area during their resurgence, Hardwick said.

"I think we're No.2 [in the AFL] at the moment from a differential point-of-view, that's been the difference in our ball game," he said.

While Hardwick encouraged his side to play with that hardness at the contest, he was quick to remind his players not to overstep the line, with Reece Conca reported for striking the Giants’ Devon Smith.

"I didn't see it. I heard he's got reported but it was outside my vision," Hardwick said.

"We want our guys to play to the line, we don't want them to step over.

"If he gets weeks, whatever it may be, we're really disappointed. We like our guys to play tough but we don't like them to go above and beyond."

Hardwick revealed Dustin Martin (15 possessions, 2.2) was lucky to overcome soreness to play, but he said the star midfielder will be "fine" to take on the Bombers.