Richmond’s last Brownlow Medallist and 1973 premiership hero, Ian Stewart, has given his esteemed seal of approval to the 2012 Tigers.

The Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend told 3AW’s football panel, in the lead-up to last Friday night’s clash with his other old side St Kilda, at Etihad Stadium, that he greatly admires the way the young Tigers are going about their business . . .

“Fantastic . . . unbelievable.  The improvement in the last 18 months is incredible,” Stewart said.

When asked where the improvement emanated from, the reclusive triple Brownlow Medallist, who was making a rare visit to an AFL match, replied:  “It’s obviously the midfield, but it’s also the assistant coaches that all the teams have got now is paying dividends, because the improvement in a lot of players - not the top players - the improvement in a lot of the lesser players, has been incredible.

“And, that’s what I think is the improvement in Richmond.  Their bottom 12 players, or the last 10 players, are playing a lot better football.

“What I saw last Saturday (Round 9) with Richmond, it brought a tear to my eye when I saw them thump Hawthorn.

“So many supporters are getting such pleasure out of Richmond’s season.

“Actually, I had a little bit of a lump in my throat.”