It took a good, old-fashioned spray from Richmond coach Damien Hardwick at three quarter-time of last night’s clash with Fremantle at Metricon Stadium to shake the Tigers out of their lethargy and set them on the path to victory.

The Dockers had kept Richmond goalless in the third term and trailed by only six points at the last change.

But with Hardwick’s words ringing in the players’ ears, the Tigers lifted, kicking four goals to nil to run out 27-point winners.

“I don’t do it often, but I could notice the guy over the far stand going, ‘Give it to them, Dimma’, as I was yelling,” Hardwick said.

“It’s not something we like to do, but we just needed a little bit of a spark and a bit of response.

“We didn’t have the energy or the zest that we normally do, and I probably needed to provide a little bit of that for a period of time . . .

“We’ve played four games in 16 games and I thought our boys looked a little jaded, to be fair.

“We always knew we were going to have a down game. The positive for us is we didn’t play anywhere near as well as we like, but we still managed to walk away with the four points.

“So, I was proud with the ability of the players to respond. It was a tough game.”