Richmond is improving its ability to play more consistently within games, according to captain Trent Cotchin.

Hard work on the training track, and learning from the mistakes of the early rounds of the 2014 season, has led to a recent upward curve in form.

By its own admission, Richmond performed well below expectations in the early rounds, but has won its last three games, including a last-start victory over fifth-placed Port Adelaide.

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In an even AFL competition, Cotchin believes maintaining a high standard over four quarters can be the difference between winning and losing, no matter who the opposition.

“The level of competition among the whole 18 teams - anyone is capable of beating anyone if they are off their game by five or 10 per cent,” Cotchin said on Wednesday.

“The reality is, you have to be playing your best footy for four quarters of the game, 100 per cent of the game, in it mentally, physically, and set yourself for every game as a big match.

“I just think at stages during the year, momentum swings have gone opposition ways and we haven't found a way to stop them.

“We have done a lot of work on that both on the training track and in games and feel that we have better answers than what we had earlier in the season.

“With that comes the effort and intensity in and around the contest, which we feel we have really improved on in the last four or five weeks. But we want to carry that forward.”

The Tigers face a trip to Perth to take on West Coast this Friday night, where they are expecting a hard-running contest on the wide expanses of Subiaco Oval.

“We know they have some elite runners on the inside and outside. We just have to make sure we match it and, hopefully, we are cleaner and better with our ball going forward and put more of a score on the board,” Cotchin said.