Star Richmond defender Dylan Grimes took plenty of positives out of the team’s 21-point loss to ladder leader Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval last Saturday.

The Tigers twice tenaciously fought back from four-goal deficits to take the lead, but were eventually overpowered by the home side in the final term.

“All in all, I’m proud of what the boys put together . . . We didn’t get the result, but we certainly showed some great signs,” Grimes told Richmond Media.

“We’ve got a lot of young players in, and to have those players playing against good opposition this time of the year, I think that’s the best learning environment they can get.

“Just from the backline’s perspective, Noah Balta playing on arguably the most in-form forward of the competition in Charlie Dixon and keeping him to two goals was a great effort. Derek’s (Eggmolesse-Smith) a young player. And you forget with Liam Baker . . . he’s only played 25-26 games.

“It’s good to see a lot of these players starting to grow with the game and show their strengths and bring their best.

“I thought there were some real positives coming out of those guys, in particular.”

Richmond’s next game, against Gold Coast at the Gabba, isn’t until next Monday (August 17), and Grimes is looking forward to that extra recovery period for the playing group.

“We’ve got a nine-day break now, which is a great result,” he said.

“Good chance to hopefully get some guys back from injury and freshen up the bodies a little bit because it’s a compacted season and I suppose the fatigue’s building. But every club’s facing the same kind of challenges at the moment.

“We’ve got a big couple of weeks coming up, playing some good teams, so we’re just trying to refresh, take a couple of days off now to rest the body, and then begin preparations as though it was a normal week next week. So, looking forward to the challenge.”