Damien Hardwick celebrated the best win of his short AFL coaching career as Richmond claimed a major scalp with a 49-point win over Fremantle.

Fremantle failed miserably to regain the intensity they had showed in their 4-1 start before the bye, fading badly in the second half before a roaring crowd of 34,090 at the MCG.

Trailing by two points at halftime, Richmond kicked 14 goals to Fremantle's five after the main break to surge to victory 23.10 (148) to 14.15 (99).

Richmond's third successive win lifts them into eighth spot on the AFL ladder on Saturday night on 14 points, thanks to stunning contributions from Trent Cotchin and Robin Nahas.

Midfielder Cotchin (25 possessions) and small forward Nahas (30 touches) kicked four goals each, as did key forward Jack Riewoldt.

Cotchin's opponent Matthew Pavlich was one of few good contributors for the Dockers, along with fellow midfielder David Mundy, ruckman Aaron Sandilands and big forward Kepler Bradley, who kicked four goals.

Second-year coach Hardwick said next Sunday's clash with the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium would be another strong test for his side, who finished 15th last year.

He cautioned against any talk that finals were on the horizon.

"We are not going to get ahead of ourselves. We've got a formidable opponent next week in the Western Bulldogs and we are very much looking forward to the challenge," Hardwick said.

"They are a side that embarrassed us last year in round two (by 72 points). Once we start to beat those sides that have had the wood over us for a number of years we will start to think about how far we can go.

"The great thing from our point of view is we beat a top-four side which we haven't been able to do since my time here so it's a great win for us.

"But we understand the difference between a Fremantle, no disrespect to them, but to a Collingwood, Geelong, those teams are another step again.

"Until we start knocking off those teams or getting a hell of a lot closer ... once we start doing that we may get some credibility."

Fremantle coach Mark Harvey lamented his side's inaccuracy in kicking 2.8 in the first quarter and said losing small forward Hayden Ballantyne in the third quarter because of a knee problem proved costly.

Harvey warned changes would be made before next Sunday's derby against West Coast.

"We've had very little of the ball," he said.

"We had 300 (299) possessions. Normally we're probably up around 370, 380.

"We're getting carried by too few at the moment.

"We'll be making some changes."

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