Inspirational ruckman Ivan Maric has outlined the importance of the all-encompassing ‘Richmond way’ as a factor in the Tigers’ startling revival.

“There’s our Richmond way that we want to play each week, but it’s also the Richmond way how you conduct yourself down the street with fans, your family and friends, and even just a stranger that you walk by,” Maric said on ABC radio.

“How you treat them is just as important as the stuff you do on the training track and at the Club, and on-field.

“Everyone’s committed to that, and everyone believes that’s important.

“I think that’s a huge part of why we’ve been winning.”

Maric explained how Richmond’s playing group has become a tighter-knit unit, through the on-field adversity of the first half of this season.

“We had to come together and bond even closer than what we were before, to be able to turn things around,” he said.

“I think everyone was fed up with losing.

“The best fun you can have in football is to win games, and that’s why we’re doing it . . . Because of that, the friendships within the playing group have gotten stronger.

“And, when you’re winning, you enjoy it even more because of those strong friendships.

“It’s fantastic at the moment.”

Maric revealed that initially he was apprehensive with providing honest feedback to his teammates during the first half of this season, while he was still on the sidelines with a severe ankle injury.

“I felt very, very uncomfortable about bringing things up because I wasn’t playing.  Once I did actually find the courage to say a few things, I got really good feedback from players and coaches for speaking up,” he said.

“So, that gave me a lot of confidence to keep doing it.

“But the most important thing, I think, was to encourage the guys when they did the team things, more so than telling them what they did wrong.

“Getting the balance of that right, I believe, is really important.”