Tom Brown admits he knew he was left with no other option than to tackle West Coast's Tom Gross in the dying stages of Richmond's two-point win at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.

With just over 30 seconds remaining and Richmond holding the slim lead, the Eagles passed the ball to Gross, who took off through the corridor.

But about 20 steps behind him was defender Brown, who had sprinted to lay the match-saving tackle, just as West Coast prepared to enter inside 50.

And while Brown, who just signed a two-year contract extension last week, became an instant Richmond hero, he knew he had to make it up to his teammates following a missed chance before.

"I came forward in the centre and I missed the body spoil, so I really had no choice," he told Fox Footy post-match.

"If I didn't chase him down, I was getting smoked in the review."

There were 15 lead changes during the Round 9 clash, but the 22-year-old remained calmed and confident in the work the back six had done to reduce the Eagles' forward half impact.

"It was ping ponging and slingshotting a bit there, but we set up well when we needed to," Brown said.

Through other eyes, Brown's tackle will go down as one of the great acts of the entire season, and one that optimises the Richmond way.

"I was a bit nervous when I saw him running through. Browny started from about 20 metres back, so I was pretty happy that he got him," fellow defender Nick Vlastuin said.

"It will be in the review and we'll probably put it up in every backs meeting for the rest of the year."

Away from that tackle, Vlastuin also heaped praise on debutant Tom Sims, who slotted a crucial goal in front of his family and friends in the stands.

"Simsy in his first game took a nice clunk and nice goal, good fun," he said.

"I was just rapt he kicked it, I was already running to him and I had to run a long way (to celebrate)."

Richmond now turns attention to the Round 10 clash against North Melbourne at the MCG this Sunday.