RICHMOND “wasn’t perfect”, but coach Ryan Ferguson was proud of the way his side stood up against Collingwood’s pressure as the Tigers went on to defeat the Magpies by 13 points in Round 10 of the AFL Women’s. The Tigers were challenged throughout the second half as the Magpies drew within seven points in the opening minute of the fourth quarter before the Tigers steadied.

Coming away with the 7.4 (46) to 5.3 (33) win at Victoria Park, the Richmond coach said he was “quite pleased” with the way the game played out, and how his team held off a “super impressive” Collingwood third term.

“I thought first quarter we executed exactly what we wanted to and felt like the game was really on our terms and put some scoreboard pressure on,” Ferguson said. “Happy at quarter time. “Second quarter was a bit of an armwrestle and get one back, but still happy with how the game was playing out. “I thought Collingwood really came out firing in the third quarter.

“They upped their work rate, their contest, they put us under all sorts of pressure. “But it is pleasing in games you have to withstand that pressure, and it’s not going to be on your terms for the whole time, so I thought that was a good experience. “It lived in our defensive half, but to hold up strong and then get the game back on our terms in the fourth and I thought we controlled the fourth really well.”

Ferguson said the key message at the final huddle was about refocusing and reducing the Magpies’ dominance on the outside from the third term.

“It was just getting a bit more predictability into our game, taking out their uncontested side,” he said. “They started to run and gun a little bit, handball receives and uncontested marks, but then when we got our chance we were kicking it back to them, we weren’t able to find the release and absorb some pressure that way so it was just a couple of those tweaks at three quarter time. “I thought our players adjusted really well.”

The Tigers racked up 11 more inside 50s from a clearance domination of 29-17, and while the black and whites did end up with nine more uncontested possessions (147-138), Richmond smashed the Pies in the contested possession count (111-88).

“They just got on top in the contest the way they fought around the contest, they really challenged our defence so for us, that’s how the first half went,” Collingwood coach Sam Wright said. “We felt like just our ability to minimise their impact around the contest but then gain ascendancy for us just wasn’t there.”

Ferguson said he was “proud” of the brand of footy his team was playing, and while there was still much improvement to come, it was a marked step up compared to earlier in the season.

“It wasn’t perfect today and there’s so much upside,” he said. “Thought we got a bit ragged in the second and third with our ball use and like I said not quite as predictable as we’d like to be, or rushed, not able to execute so there’s plenty of upside.

“But just to see the brand of footy, how hard we worked, how tough we were, and when we were executing, the ability to lower the eyes, take it off the line, have different modes of attack, and put pressure on the opposition that way.

“I’m proud of the group for standing strong, it’s not the season that we planned to have, but to stick together, work on our game and build momentum, I’m really proud with how they’ve attacked that.”

Richmond has a tough stint in Perth next week to take on the 10th placed Dockers, before returning home to host wooden spoon-bound Gold Coast. Collingwood face the Suns this weekend up in the Sunshine State before heading home to host the fourth placed Brisbane at Victoria Park.