As the song goes, Richmond never weakens until the final siren's gone, and a Liam Baker snap has capped off a six-goal turnaround to overhaul a desperate Hawthorn and win by one point.

The tenacious Tiger snapped truly to give his side the lead with 63 seconds remaining, the 14.12 (96) to 15.5 (95) victory keeping their finals hopes alive.

It's a crushing blow for the Hawks, who played an incredibly ferocious brand of footy for the first three quarters, but tired to concede the final six goals of the match stemming to just before the final break.

Hawthorn found plenty of space early through the middle of the ground, threatening with plenty of run off half-back. The forward-at-all-costs approach was capped off by a toe-poke goal from Finn Maginness, which took the fast start out to a 19-point lead.

Chad Wingard was somewhat out of favour a month ago, but recorded 10 disposals in the first quarter and finished with 17 and three goals for the game in a vintage performance across half-forward.

Ben Miller soared high from out of play to mark an off-target Dustin Martin shot, then converted a snap from the tightest of angles to tie up the scores at the start of the second quarter.

But it was a rare highlight for the home side for that term, as the Hawks piled on six straight goals with a scintillating burst, adding cleanliness to their usual grunt and endeavour around the footy.

The Tigers rarely had an answer to the Hawks' fast plays from the centre bounces, the midfielders in the sash struggling to clog up their defensive side of the stoppage.

Mid-season recruit Matt Coulthard came into the game halfway in the third quarter, but really kicked into gear at the start of the fourth term. The lightly built South Australian played key roles in Richmond's first two goals after the final break, finding plenty of space and showing a nice pair of heels and some key composure to find teammates in front of the big sticks.

Mitch Lewis booted four goals in an engaging battle with Noah Balta, who took 14 marks and kept the Tigers alive as the Hawks piled on the pressure.

RICHMOND 3.2 6.6 9.9 14.12 (96)
HAWTHORN 4.2 10.3 15.3 15.5 (95)

GOALS
Richmond: Taranto 3, Baker 2, Martin 2, Graham, Hopper, Miller, Soldo, Bolton, Riewoldt, McIntosh
Hawthorn: Lewis 4, Wingard 3, Brockman 2, Breust 2, Worpel, Maginness, Newcombe, Moore

BEST
Richmond: Prestia, Taranto, Balta, Ross, Graham
Hawthorn: Newcombe, Sicily, Worpel, Amon, Lewis

INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Hawthorn: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Matthew Coulthard (replaced Tylar Young in the third quarter)
Hawthorn: Ned Long (replaced Denver Grainger-Barras in the third quarter)

Crowd: 57,654 at the MCG