Richmond withstood a late comeback from Essendon to upset the Bombers by 16 points at the MCG in front on 83,563 fans on Saturday night.

The Tigers, who move into eighth spot on the AFL ladder with the win, led by 22 points at three-quarter time and held on with three goals to Essendon's four in the final term.

Trent Cotchin, Brett Deledio, Dustin Martin and Chris Newman dominated midfield for the Tigers while Jack Riewoldt kicked four goals and Jake King and Tyrone Vickery contributed three each.

Cotchin was awarded best-afield in the Dreamtime clash which is staged annually between the two clubs to promote indigenous culture.

Angus Monfries, David Zaharakis and Leroy Jetta kicked three goals each for the Bombers who suffered their third loss for the season and could now drop out of the top four if Hawthorn beat Sydney on Sunday.

Both sides kicked two goals in the first quarter with Richmond ahead by a point.

The Bombers scored 4.4 in the second term to grab their own one-point advantage at halftime.

Exciting teenager Dyson Heppell was playing a creative role across half-back for the Bombers in the first half.

The Bombers went into the long break on 6.6 (42) to Richmond's 6.5 (41).

Jetta briefly left the field in the second term for treatment to a cut mouth after a heavy clash with Deledio.

Richmond took charge in the third term, kicking 7.3 to Essendon's 3.4.

A brilliant piece of play from Cotchin led to Riewoldt's fourth goal, then Robin Nahas slammed on another major for the Tigers who went 22 points clear at the 26-minute mark.

Jetta's third goal kept the Bombers in touch but fiery small forward King scored his third as the Tigers took a 22-point advantage at three-quarter time.

Essendon fought back, kicking four of the first six goals of the final term including two to Angus Monfries to cut the margin to 11 points at the 20-minute mark.

However the Tigers steadied with a late goal to Vickery.

Essendon dominated the inside-50s 59-47 but were hurt by skill errors.

Richmond host Port Adelaide next Saturday night in Darwin while Essendon have the bye.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said he was thrilled with his side's fighting spirit in the last quarter with Dylan Grimes off the field because of a hamstring injury.

"The Bombers kept coming and we kept responding," Hardwick said.

Second-year coach Hardwick said it was one of the best wins of his short career.

"To play in front of 83,000 people like that and it's such a significant event in the indigenous round, it probably ranks right up there," Hardwick said.

"For a young footy club finding their feet, haven't had finals experience (since 2001), it's probably as close to a final as we've come for a long time.

"The atmosphere was electric."

Hardwick paid tribute to his team's back six who were poor last week but rebounded strongly against the Bombers, led by Alex Rance, Grimes and Luke McGuane.

Hardwick said the Tigers relied on efficient ball use to overcome losing the clearances and contested possessions.

Bombers coach James Hird said his side's kicking efficiency was only about 50 per cent.

"It's very hard to win games of footy doing that," he said.

"Our ball use definitely let us down."

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