Richmond coach Damien Hardwick was pleased to see "the fabric" of his side return in its upset win over reigning premiers Geelong on Friday night.

"I'm just proud of our footy club overall," Hardwick said post-game.

"We asked some guys to play some foreign roles and they've stepped up and they've executed.

"That's the most pleasing thing and I thought our leaders have been great, just the way they've continued to promote the positive messages that we've been trying to portray and they've done a wonderful job of keeping the energy up."

The Tigers' leaders put the Cats to the sword, with Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt combining for nine important goals, as they left the new guard to battle it out at the contest.

Despite a tough start to the season with just two wins and a draw from eight games coming into the weekend, the coach's belief has never wavered.

"I certainly have got a lot of belief, and I think the playing group is starting to feel that little heartbeat coming back. It looked Richmond-like, there were dirty goals, the way we got the ball to ground, the way we charged in… that's a Richmond game that the fabric of our footy club has been built on for a number of years and we're starting to see that come back into the playing group."

It wasn't wholly positive for the Tigers, however, with Jacob Hopper subbed out in the third quarter with a left calf injury, which Hardwick confirmed would mean some weeks out of the game for the recruit.