Richmond celebrated its third win of the season on Sunday after a hard-fought contest against West Coast, reigning supreme by just 11 points.

While plenty of Tiger youngsters shined in key moments, coach Adem Yze praised the way Richmond's senior crop led throughout the game and steadied the ship.

“Tim Taranto is in great form, Dion Prestia is helping and coaching out there, we really missed Jack Ross for the two weeks that he was out, and Nank [Toby Nankervis] is leading the way now that he is back in," Yze said in his post-match press conference.

“Broady [Nathan Broad] down back with Nick Vlastuin [are] pillars. They beat us in inside-50s and time in half, the things that we want to be known for, and they beat us in that space.

“We will review that really honestly, but our leaders are obviously helping fast-track the development of our younger lads, and they all performed really strongly again today.”

Amongst the leaders that stood tall was Taranto, willing on his side by amassing 32 disposals and bringing the pressure with his nine tackles, the most of any Tiger on the field. He also collected nine coaches' votes for his performance.

The close contest, which Yze believes will benefit his young Tigers in the future, allowed them to execute system and structure when the game was in the balance.

“It was a bit of an arm wrestle. It looked like we were going to kick away with it and then a couple of mistakes here and there kept them in the game,” Yze said.  

“Close game scenarios for a young list are really important just for clarity and organisation.

“We expect our leaders to understand what is going on in those moments, but when you see our young players organising and just being really clear in their role, I thought we executed well again.”

Hard-running wingman Hugo Ralphsmith also had one of his best performances of the year, finishing with two goals, 18 disposals and 435 metres gained.

With all signs pointing upward for Richmond’s young crop, Yze remains excited to see his team at full strength, hoping his players can string a consistent amount of games together.

“When you rebuild, you need games into younger players, so we got the win, but we still need Jonty Faull, Harry Armstrong, Tom Sims, Josh Gibcus to be out there. We still have guys that need to gel together,” Yze said.

“At the same time, if we can scratch out some wins while we go through what we are going through with unavailability, it’s terrific.

“Mykelti Lefau stood up today, and Samson Ryan came into the side after toiling away for four weeks and really earning his opportunity, but by having him in there it allows Nank to play lower gametime and it keeps Kelts forward.

“We know what we have got within our four walls, and we know how potent they can be when we get an opportunity to play together, but we just haven’t had that opportunity this year.”