Interim Richmond coach Andrew McQualter referenced the departure of Damien Hardwick in his pre-match address before the side took on Yartapuulti on Sunday.

McQualter said he would focus on the week-to-week routine of the season, rather than consider his own possible application for the permanent role. 

He praised his side's "never-give-up attitude" despite struggling to clear the ball out of defence in the last term, resulting in a 10-point loss.

"It was fun. I think if I do it for too long, I won't keep this thick, luscious hair that I've currently got, that might get challenged," McQualter said.

"It has been a tough week, an emotional week for the club. 'Dimma' (Hardwick) has been such an influence on so many people at the club's lives, and it was a challenging few days, no one saw it coming. 

"I think once we got back to work on Wednesday, the leaders of our club were amazing and we understand the club has a purpose and we have to keep moving forward. We did that, we prepared for the game and the players were amazing.

"We spoke about it pre-match, we spoke about honouring 'Dimma' and what he's given the club for a long period of time. The players love him, so there's a reason why we did that, he's given so much to our club."

Hardwick had posted a photo on Twitter in club gear, beer in hand at 10am, which McQualter joked would have been his sole drink before nodding off.

Tim Taranto has been the subject of arguments in a section of the media around his disposal efficiency and effectiveness of late, but his 33-touch, four-goal performance was a best-on-ground effort.

His teammate Marlion Pickett joined him in the middle of the ground, having been forced to spend much of this year as a smaller marking target.

"Not a bad player, Tim, is he? He's been unbelievably consistent for us this year, an ultra-competitor, every week he gives his all and we love him for it. It was another great game for him," McQualter said.

"He understands what we value about him internally, we've given him a lot of support, but he's shown up every week and kept performing. He's let his performances do the talking at the moment.

"We set Marlion up for a bit of a job on (Connor) Rozee, it was part of our mindset this week, great player, it could have been (Zak) Butters as well. I thought Marlion gave us something in the middle of the ground. We knew he could, he's a good player wherever we play him, but I thought that was a bit of a win."