Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has praised the work of seasoned, blue-collar midfielder Daniel Jackson.

While fellow ‘mids’ Trent Cotchin, Brett Deledio and Dustin Martin stole the limelight with their excellent performances in the Tigers’ 67-point win against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium last Sunday, Hardwick pointed to Jackson’s continued valuable contributions to the side.

“He’s been fantastic.  I personally think he’s probably been our best player over the last three weeks,” Hardwick said.

“Week in, week out, he does a job.

“He’s hard, he’s tough, he’s everything we want a player in our jumper to be.

“What he does is consistently give us that effort that is required to win games and to win close games.  And that’s why he’s one of those guys that’s first picked on a weekly basis . . .

“He ticks all those boxes.”

The 26-year-old veteran of 126 league games had 20 disposals in the victory over the Bulldogs, including five clearances and five inside-50 entries. 

He further underlined his importance to the Tigers’ team with a game-high six tackles.