Richmond will spend the remainder of the 2014 season perfecting its game plan, aiming to continue the upward trend in performance it has seen in the last month.

Regardless of where the Tigers finish on the ladder at the end of the current campaign, the focus in the next two months will be about adhering to a set of on and off-field standards, set by the players and coaches.

“It’s about setting standards that we can adhere to, going forward, and in the pre-season, making sure we set a template for how we want to play, train, and how we want to be around the footy club,” Richmond defender Troy Chaplin told SEN.

“The thing I’ve seen in probably the last six weeks is guys putting it on one another on game-day.  It makes others accountable, but the only way you can do that is by doing the right thing yourself.

“There’s definitely been a shift in a mindset and focus of the playing group, which has been fantastic.

“Probably the last six or seven weeks we’ve started to see things turn, statistic wise.  We’ve gone from bottom four or five in everything, to mid table.

“It’s up to us as a playing group to turn it around, and these are the little steps you’ve got to take.

“If you want to take some momentum into pre-season, you have to make it a focus for the next seven weeks.”

Chaplin said competition for spots in the senior line-up was as fierce as ever, with the Tigers’ coaching staff making every player earn their opportunity.

“It’s easy to pack up shop and play young guys, and I think Dimma has been on record about not doing that,” he said.

“He wants to make sure that guys earn their spot.  If you’re not playing well and adhering to the standards, then you’ll find yourself out of the team.

“Guys in the VFL who have been playing well will get an opportunity, like Anthony Miles, who’s come in and had a great four or five weeks.”