The Tigers sit bottom of the ladder with just one win and a draw from the first 13 rounds, but that does not tell the complete story.

At three-quarter time in nine matches this year, the club has either led or was behind by four goals or less but has been unable to secure a win, with the only "success" from those games a draw against Brisbane in round 10.

The trend has been particularly stark in the past three rounds.

On either side of their drought-breaking win over Melbourne were matches against Fremantle and St Kilda, where Richmond trailed by one and four points, respectively, with a quarter to play but were overrun in the last quarter and came away empty-handed.

Defender Andrew Raines said the club was frustrated with the run of narrow losses and determined to come out on top in a tight match.

"We just want to come out this week with a hard edge about us and just want to win. We're just getting really sick of getting that close," Raines said.

"As a group we've been pretty good together but now we're starting to really get a bit annoyed with it."

Teammate Joel Bowden said a five-goal loss was often easier to take than a two-goal defeat because "you don't feel like you could have won".

"Getting close actually makes you feel worse," Bowden said. "It makes it a little bit more disheartening and harder to take."

Coach Terry Wallace said players tended to over-analyse every little incident in close matches, wondering what could have made the difference.

He was confident the statistic would improve as the Tigers' squad grew in experience.

"On the weekend we had 10 players 22 years or younger. St Kilda had three," Wallace said.

"That's still the difference at the moment. That's not looking for excuses; we need to be able to step up, we need to be able to win those games but genuinely I think that in 12-18 months time we will be winning those games."

Wallace expected the recent returns of Nathan Brown and Troy Simmonds would also help give the side a bit more much needed experience out on the ground.

The Kangaroos saw big man Drew Petrie boot seven goals in their win over the Western Bulldogs, which included six goals in a stunning 20-minute period in the first quarter.

While not a noted goal-kicker, particularly this season given his move to defence, the haul has Wallace wary of a repeat performance at Telstra Dome on Sunday.

"Anyone who has the capability of doing that once has the capability of doing that again," Wallace said.