Former Richmond coach Terry Wallace has delivered a glowing assessment of the combined talents of Tiger stars Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Alex Rance and Jack Riewoldt.

Wallace, who these days is a respected commentator on radio station SEN, rates them as the best top four players currently at any AFL club.

“I’m happy to go with Richmond’s top four as the best in the competition,” Wallace said on SEN.

“I think you could get an argument from GWS, I think you could maybe get an argument for Sydney if they’re playing at their best.

But, right where we stand at the moment, I think the top four at Richmond are the best top four in the AFL.

“It’s a perfect balance (one in defence, one up forward and two on-ball) . . .”

Wallace emphasised the importance of AFL clubs ‘nailing’ their early picks at the draft table in order to have the best possible chance of achieving success, and he believes Richmond has done extremely well in this regard with its ‘fantastic four’.

‘Rancey’ is a later first round pick, Jack’s a later first round pick, and the other two boys are high-end picks,” he said.

“You’ve got to have the top-end talent to be able to get it done . . . to go with the rest of the jigsaw puzzle.”