Rising Richmond wingman Patrick Retschko has provided an insight into the invaluable lessons the young Tigers can take from Saturday’s loss to Collingwood.

The experienced Magpies recorded a 34-point Round 16 win, with a six goal to one second quarter setting up the final margin.

However, Retschko, who was Richmond’s highest ranked player on the ground via Champion Data’s Ranking Points, believes the Tigers can take plenty from battling against premiership players. 

“I think we just lapsed a little bit in the second quarter,” Retschko said.

“They have a lot of talent and obviously not much of that group has changed since their premiership, so you can see how good they can be at the top of their game, and it was probably a little bit too good for us in that second quarter. 

“At the same time, I think there's a lot of positives to take out of the other three quarters in terms of levelling the score and winning the KPIs that we wanted to win. There's always a bit of a silver lining with that stuff. 

“Look in the centre square and you see Taj [Hotton] lining up on Nick Daicos, I think there's invaluable experience when it comes to playing on players who have played where you want to get to. 

“Even for myself lining up on someone like Jack Crisp, I've got a lot of admiration for everything he's done on the wing across his career, so I learned a lot off him, and I even get to the point where you ask him questions out there because we're not going to stop in terms of where we want to get to. 

“We take a lot of experience out of the players we play out there against and the system we play against.”

Retschko was brilliant, controlling the wing with calm and conviction, stuffing the stats sheet with 26 disposals, 16 kicks, 511 metres gained, 80.8 per cent disposal efficiency, five inside-50s and four score involvements.  

It was a strong response from Retschko, after a quieter game against North Melbourne last week, and the 20-year-old explained how he is growing through the roller-coaster ride of AFL football.

“It took me a while to realise that progress isn't always going to be linear,” he said.

“I've had some games where I've been pretty disappointed in, whether that's how I'm using it or the patterns I run, there's always room for improvement. 

“I've done a power of work with Jack Ziebell, especially across the last couple of weeks, when it comes to understanding how the process betters the floor of your result. 

“It doesn't always guarantee that it's going to be a linear progression but it's nice to have some nights like [Round 16] where it might have been better than others in terms of individual contribution. 

“At the same time, the role I play in our system is very important, so I take a lot of pride in my role there and I've got to keep working towards making sure I'm 100 per cent compliant in that area.”

Along with Retschko, plenty of young Tigers shined on Saturday, including Sam Cumming, Hotton, Sam Grlj, and more.

“I absolutely love playing with those boys. I played with them all, besides Sam Cumming, as juniors and it's nice to see their traits that I admired in the juniors coming through on the MCG,” Retschko said.

“The future looks pretty bright when you see those boys doing those things out there on the big stage.”