Joel Bowden might not be the fastest, the strongest, or the fittest player on Richmond's list, but he is the calmest in a crisis, and for that quality the Tigers can be very thankful.

For the third time in the past five rounds, Bowden's poise in the final seconds of a nail-biting finish got the Tigers home on Saturday night.

The 30-year-old, in his 13th season, kicked three goals in the final term, as Richmond roared back from 25 points down at the last change to win 18.9 (117) to 16.18 (114) over Brisbane at Telstra Dome.

Having spent much of the game in defence, Tigers coach Terry Wallace punted on Bowden's poise in attack helping his side prevail.

"I just thought his smarts in a pretty tough cooker environment that it was going to be in that quarter might just have been handy," Wallace said.

"With Matthew (Richardson) and Browny (Nathan Brown) down forward, I just thought that he might be the third foil, that so much emphasis would go onto those players.

"To have a smart player down there, rather than necessarily a young player might just have been the way to go and it panned out really well."

All three of Bowden's goals for the term highlighted his ability to focus in the pressure of a tense situation that was adversely affecting many around him.

The first came when he won a free kick for a desperate lunge and tackle on Brisbane youngster Tom Collier.

Seconds earlier, Richmond captain Kane Johnson had given away a golden chance for a goal himself, when instead of taking an open shot from 25m, he inexplicably handballed into a crowded goal square.

Bowden's second goal of the term again showed his poise under pressure in comparison to another veteran, when he intercepted a poorly-placed short pass from Lions star Luke Power, who was kicking out from fullback.

His third was the clincher, after he marked on the lead about 30m from goal with 22 seconds left on the clock and the Tigers trailing by three points.

With the result of the match and possibly Richmond's finals hopes riding on the kick, the ball could hardly have been in better hands and Bowden duly sent it through the middle.

"The one thing with Joel, you know he's a cool, wise head," Wallace said.

"The goals that he kicked he never looked like missing and there was certainly one very big goal there as well."

Saturday night's heroics came after Bowden showed similar poise, albeit to mixed reactions, in helping the Tigers home in last weekend's thriller over Essendon, twice rushing behinds to milk the clock in the final seconds.

He played an equally pivotal role in the dying seconds of the round 13 win over Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium, marking deep in defence as the Power came desperately close to over-running the Tigers.

All that after the two-time club best and fairest was dropped from rounds four to seven, as the club pondered whether he still had the goods to contribute at the top level.

Had he not earned his way back, the Tigers' season could be looking a lot more bleak right now.

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