Richmond’s players will draw upon how shattered they felt after last year's finals loss to Carlton, as they prepare for Sunday's sudden-death clash with Port Adelaide.

Seeking their first finals victory since 2001, the Tigers were 32 points up early in the second quarter of the 2013 elimination final against the Blues.  But they collapsed in the last 50 minutes of the game and lost by 20 points.

It was a particularly galling loss, as Richmond had ended the home-and-away season in fifth place on the ladder, whereas Carlton had finished ninth, before being elevated into the finals after Essendon was stripped of its place.

"It's hard not to reflect on last year," said Richmond’s captain Trent Cotchin.

"The disappointment, the empty feeling you have after a game.

"I think what we learned last year was it doesn't matter how strong a position you are in, at any stage in the game, it can always be taken away from you.

"That's something we've shown in the past month or two, that it needs to mean something to you, and you need to stand up at times when you're called upon.

"We take a lot of confidence out of the way we've been playing and just look forward to putting in a really strong four-quarter effort."

The Tigers’ coach Damien Hardwick agrees that his men learned plenty of important lessons during last year's loss to the Blues.

And, he believes Richmond's remarkable nine-game winning run, which has powered it into the finals, has taught his men how to prevail in all types of circumstances.

"We've been playing elimination finals for the last five or six weeks, so it's been a common theme," Hardwick said.

"Our guys have stood up at every challenge. They've been headed at various stages and I, personally, think we would've lost some of those games last year.

"But the steely resolve of our leadership group, and our club as a whole, has kept us in good stead.

"I've got no doubt, from in the coaches' box, that I'm incredibly confident when sides do head us at various stages, that our guys will fight back, get that resolve and start to play some good footy again."

As for the fact Richmond seems to have become many footy fans' second team after its remarkable charge into the top eight, Hardwick said: "I think we're probably like the second cousin that all of a sudden becomes the first cousin if you become famous.

"We're probably one of those sides that has gone up and down. Much like a lot of sides, people are happy for other sides to come in and, hopefully, gain some success.

"We're really pleased. Our supporters have been nothing short of outstanding this year.

"To give those guys some respectability back with their footy club, and more importantly go to work on a Monday being loud and proud Richmond supporters, is really important to us.

"We just hope we can get as many as 10,000 supporters over there (at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday) to give us our full support.

"Because I guarantee you that our 10,000 will sound like 20,000, if we get them over there."