THERE were smiling faces everywhere in the Richmond rooms as the Tigers' celebrated their shock 43-point win over the Sydney Swans.

And among the throng, which included Prime Minister Julia Gillard's partner Tim Mathieson, was a beaming Robin Nahas.

"It's always fun when you're winning," the small forward said.

"Obviously in the last month or so it's been tough for the players, but we've put in a lot of hard work and today was about reaping the rewards for that hard work.

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"We obviously know that we've still got a lot of improvement left in us, and hopefully this can be the start of a good few weeks to finish off the season.

"I know the fans deserve that."

Nahas, who has been one of Richmond's most consistent performers this season, was delighted to have played a key role in the victory by booting three goals and collecting 18 possessions.

"Damien [Hardwick] has been working with me over the last three weeks to change my role a bit," he said.

"He's wanted me to run harder into the forward 50 - probably not get as much of the ball but try and impact on the scoreboard a lot more.

"It's great coaching to be honest."

After the Tigers were roared home by the 34,000-strong crowd, Nahas reserved special praise for long-suffering Richmond supporters.

"One thing you can say is that they're loyal," he said. "They keep turning up regardless of how we're playing.

"So today shows them that we're heading in the right direction and we'll continue to improve."

The game was an ugly affair until the final quarter when the Tigers clicked into gear and booted six goals to two.

"Sydney plays real contested football, so they were tough in that first half," Nahas said.

"I think as the game went on our fitness got over the top of them and we put it on the scoreboard, which is great.

"We knew that if we stuck to our plan then we could win and that's what happened."