As quick and slick as Richmond was in Thursday night’s decisive 27-point victory over West Coast at Metricon Stadium, it was what the Tigers did when they didn’t have the ball in their possession that provided coach Damien Hardwick with most satisfaction.

“I was really pleased with our players’ endeavour and especially our pressure, which was over two throughout the night,” Hardwick said.

“West Coast, if they get to play the game their way, are really damaging. Time in possession is how they play, and uncontested marks. And we denied that a little bit tonight . . .

“We’re starting to play some really good footy.

“A lot of our indicators are pretty solid. There’s a couple of them that are not quite to the level we’d like, but we’re building on those and getting towards our best footy . . .

“West Coast are a great side. Did they play their best tonight? No, they didn’t. And, we’re probably a little bit the same.

“I think both of us have got significant areas of improvement . . . We’ll continue to get better.”

A key factor in the Tigers’ success on the night was being able to nullify the elite intercepting capacity of key Eagle defenders Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass.

“I thought our key forwards, Jack (Riewoldt) and Tom (Lynch), were incredible,” Hardwick said.

“They didn’t take a lot of marks between them, but it was more about not getting outmarked, which was really important . . . Those guys battled really, really well.

“I think they (West Coast defenders) only took four MOP’s (intercepts) for the game and two contested marks through the night.

“We knew if we got the ball to ground, we’d be a chance.

“So, the plan worked tonight. It hasn’t worked previous times we’ve played them, but we were lucky with that tonight.”