Richmond coach Terry Wallace believes his young side showed a new level of maturity and poise in their shock 16.9 (105) to 10.16 (76) AFL win over Hawthorn at the MCG.

The victory kept the Tigers' faint finals hopes flickering and was a stunning reversal of form after they were handed 10-goal thrashings by Geelong and Adelaide in the past two rounds.

Wallace said central to the win was the planning that had gone into unlocking the 18-man zone that has become a key part of the Hawks' success.

"I sat there after the last time we played Hawthorn raving about what Alastair had done with the ability to have that rolling zone going," Wallace said.

"Obviously we put a fair bit of time into playing them this time around and probably plotted and charted it for four or five weeks in the lead-up to this game because it's such a different game that they play."

He was impressed with the discipline the Richmond players displayed to combat the Hawthorn tactic, showing patience at times to thread their way slowly through and other times finding the space to speed the ball down the ground.

"We went from being as undisciplined (against Adelaide) last week structurally to as disciplined structurally (against Hawthorn) as what I've seen us since I've been here," Wallace said.

"It shows what you can do in a week of footy.

"It was more a four-quarter performance than what we've seen.

"I think we've won games this year where we've kicked eight or nine goals in a quarter and played a terrific patch and then gone missing for blocks of the game.

"I thought it was probably our best four-quarter, disciplined, do the right thing, nothing fancy, just get the job done, game that we've played."

Wallace said the Tigers, often criticised for poor disposal, outshone the Hawks in that area mainly because they showed patience, which he credited to their growing maturity.

"When you run like a chook without a head and run into traffic and don't know where you're going, then you panic and you turn the ball over," he said.

"I honestly don't think we've got a foot skill problem, I think at times we've got a decision-making, patience, panic problem."

The Tigers were fuelled early by strong midfield performances from Brett Deledio and Shane Tuck, kicking five of the first six goals, then keeping Hawthorn at arm's length throughout.

The Hawks took the ascendancy in general play for a long period late in the third term and early in the last, but their hopes were killed by poor kicking.

They put on four consecutive behinds at one point in the third quarter, before the Tigers moved forward and goaled against the tide seconds before the siren to undo all the Hawks' work.

Star forward Lance Franklin was the main culprit, kicking two behinds during that period on his way to 3.6 for the game, as well as a shot out on the full and another which failed to make the distance from 40m.

The efforts of Richmond veterans Matthew Richardson and Joel Bowden, who took 42 marks between them, were also crucial in staving off the Hawks' comeback attempts.

"We were playing catch-up footy and to their absolute credit we couldn't catch them by the end of the four quarters," Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson said.

"But we had our chances and we didn't make the most of it when we had our chances."

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