Richmond coach Adem Yze assessed several key topics after the Tigers' Round 8 win, including why the victory meant so much to him, Dion Prestia's injury and more. 

An undermanned Richmond recorded its first victory of the season over West Coast in a thrilling 11-point triumph, with Yze saying it was one of the best results he has been involved in.

"I had a lot of belief in what we've been doing the last few weeks. I spoke to the players about that, we just hadn't been able to sustain it for a full four quarters," Yze said.

"Obviously really proud of the group. We're dealing with a fair bit off the field with availability and things like that...I mentioned it post-game, this would easily be one of the best wins I've been involved in, because of that.

"When you're dealing with so many different things, whether it's week to week or even during the week, you're always wondering what the players are thinking. I could see it in their eye, in the captain's run, in the team meeting, how engaged they've been, so I've sensed that we're on the right path. 

"We're dealing with a lot, with availability, but you wouldn't know it with our spirit and our energy. 

"[West Coast] won a lot of the metrics that we want to be good at and [for] parts of the game we weren't good enough, and we need to get better...but when you talk about spirit, grit, fight, it was the reason why we won the game. 

"I'm really proud of the boys, but as we do every week, we'll review [the game] really honestly, but if we maintain that with our fight, we'll be OK. 

"Terrific win. Hopefully our Tiger Army - we have got amazing support - were really proud of the boys, because there's some young lads that took a step today."

One negative for the Tigers was Prestia's calf injury, which saw him exit the game in the first quarter.

Despite his on-field absence, Yze explained how the three-time premiership player still had a huge influence on the result.

"He's gone out of the game within five minutes, but then he had an impact on the bench with our younger players," Yze said of Prestia.

"He's got an eye for coaching, he's still got obviously a little bit of footy left in him, but the impact that he had on today's game in a different way was outstanding. 

"Listening to the way he was talking to our players and educating and going through vision, it gave me so much confidence that I didn't have to do it. I could just put my arm around the players and make sure that their energy and fight was at the level we required. 

"Unfortunate that he's tweaked his calf but he had a really important impact for us throughout the game. 

"He's had a couple [of calf injuries] and he feels this isn't as bad, but it's a hard one with that until you get the scan. No doubt he's going to miss a little bit of footy. We've got a bye in Round 13...hopefully it's only up until that mid-season break. 

"I'll be guessing, but, by the way he is walking around, he feels like it's on the lower end. We'll find that out."

It was a tight contest for majority of the match, with multiple lead changes throughout, but Yze was delighted with how the Tigers were able to execute late in a close game, as they kicked three of the last four goals.

"The last minutes, a close game scenario for a young group, to be able to adjust and throw players around and be organised, credit to the leaders out there, they were setting that up before we even put the signs up," Yze said.

"It shows they're in the right space and they've got clarity on the way that we want to play."

Yze was full of praise for the experience and learnings Richmond's youngsters will take from the victory.

"We've got guys that are just getting exposure and Tom Burton, he was our last pick, comes onto our list as a pre-season pick, and he's playing in front of a hostile environment, it was so loud, and watching the players come off the ground and talking about the atmosphere, for a young kid, that's like a Final," he said.

"We need them to feel like they can belong on an AFL field and I've got to fast-track that. Today's just a great opportunity for those guys.

"Kane McAuliffe comes into the game planning to play on the wing and then within five minutes we're moving him inside, and he has done it before, but to be able to switch your mindset, it is a lot different playing inside compared to a wing role, so it's a credit to him to shift his mindset and have a big impact on the game. 

"Sammy Cumming played a terrific game, and we wanted to give him some more exposure and he took another step in his career in his second game.

"[The leaders] are used to it, but they've got to carry some of the younger guys. Our leaders really stood up today in big moments, our young guys provided the energy and our core group in Seth Campbell and our emerging young players hit the scoreboard and looked really potent."

Another shining light was the performance of Noah Balta, who played in the ruck and up forward.

Balta finished the match with 20 disposals, an AFL career-high 18 contested possessions, six marks, including a game-high and equal AFL career-high four contested grabs, three goals, three inside-50s, six clearances, an equal AFL career-high seven score involvements, an AFL career-high 20 hit-outs and 354 metres gained.

"It's a funny one with Noah, we know that he can [play forward and ruck], but we know that his best footy is probably down back, but he just wants to help our footy Club while we're going through what we're going through," Yze said.

"Last week we threw him into the centre bounce without a shin guard and you wouldn't know it, he was just crashing packs and leading, and we need that when we've got a few of our leaders out. 

"He did the same today, he impacted around the ground and then obviously we know what he can do when he's forward, he's a potent threat. 

"Having [Tom Lynch] down there as a focal point, you started to see Jonty Faull mark the ball, and he's starting to gain some momentum and some form for a young guy, and Mykelti Lefau's similar."

Richmond lost the inside-50 count 64-48, but Yze was proud with the way the defenders held up under constant pressure.

"It's been a focus of ours, scores per entry are a big indicator," Yze said.

"There were patches in the game where we just had to put our dukes up and we were copping a few, and we just had to fight. We allowed a few too many repeat entries, but what we didn't allow was too many scores. 

"If we can maintain that fight and that grit while the momentum's against us, we're in a better position. It was a bit of a different win when you look at stats but our players need to learn to win, which is terrific."