Richmond have waited three years to be this close to the top eight so deep into the AFL season.

But for Alex Rance and his Tigers teammates, it's still far too early to dare to dream.

Richmond and Melbourne clash on Saturday at the MCG and the winner will go into the eight if Hawthorn beat Essendon on Friday night.

Rance said regardless of their position on the ladder, Richmond for now were concentrating on improving their game.

"Dimma (coach Damien Hardwick) has been pretty good with us at making sure that it is mainly just focussed on us and getting our stuff right, developing it that way, instead of looking at the larger picture," Rance said.

"It's more a motivation of just testing ourselves against our game plan and perfecting that.

"It's not so much about us against them, it's more knowing our game style."

Rance noted that before last Saturday night's win over Brisbane, the Tigers had lost their previous two games.

"They (Melbourne) have a lot of players who can pop up from out of nowhere, so you can't really underestimate any of them," he said.

"They're quite a good clearance side with (Brent) Moloney and those type of players."

One of the features of the Lions' win was the strong work from Rance and his fellow defenders, particularly when Brisbane pressed early in the last term.

Rance held Lions captain Jonathan Brown to two goals.

"I'm starting to get a little bit of an understanding and knowledge in myself, as to what's required of me and what my role is in the side," Rance said.

"'Leppa' (Tigers defensive coach Justin Leppitsch) has been really good from that perspective, helping me with my body stuff and the technical side of things.

"I think I've improved a lot this year.

"Bachar Houli, he was a very good player, Chris Newman as per usual stands up when the heat is on.

"It was a good challenge for us, because we have been challenged in previous weeks, Sydney and Port Adelaide, and we didn't hold up as well."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP