It had been a long journey for patient Richmond fans, Damien Hardwick said, but they were now proving they could match it with the best in the competition.

Just more than 66,300 fans were at the MCG to watch the Tigers play defensive football, full of short kicks and uncontested marks, to beat the Hawks by 18 points.

In a fiery post-match press conference opposition coach  Alastair Clarkson said the game was a wake-up call for the football world – Hawthorn, his team of reigning premiers, were far from a shoo-in for another cup.

"It's July for goodness sake, there's a long way to go," he said.

Hardwick said Hawthorn had been in red-hot form, but the Tigers built on the disappointment they felt after their four-point loss to Freo, and came out firing.

"They way they went about the contest tonight, hunted the competition, was as good as we've seen it," he said.

The Tigers had not cracked the code to beating the formidable Hawks, Hardwick said, rather it was a matter of some sides matching up more closely than others.

"We probably play a similar style, come from a similar line of coach, with [Clarkson] being my first head coach."

Football commentators this week may have spoken about the team in brown and gold as if they were almost unstoppable, but they did not score a single goal in the first or third quarters against Richmond.

Clarkson said the Tigers had been hungrier for the win, clearly annoyed that the Hawks had been considered a sure thing.

"It's a nice headline for the media scribes to keep writing that it's a foregone conclusion that Hawthorn's going to win, but we know within our own four walls that we've got to work really hard," he said.

The Hawks now faced an in-form West Coast in Perth, an important game as they fought for a top-two position on the ladder.

"If they win they're going to make it really, really tough, with five games to go, to catch up a two-game margin," Clarkson said.

"But the result of next week's game is not going to determine the result of the grand final either."

Hawthorn's James Frawley was subbed off to be checked for a concussion in the second quarter, replaced for 20 minutes by youngster Billy Hartung, who played well.

When told there had been speculation Hawthorn had used the substitute deliberately to bring new energy into the game, Clarkson appeared furious and questioned whether the suggestion had come from former North Melbourne great Wayne Carey.

"You really think we'd do that, we've got a doctor down on the bench, who makes a concussion call," he said.

"The coach doesn't have anything to do with it, get that clear."

"Another great call by Carey."

Hawthorn's Frawley and Brian Lake were both reported during the match.

In the dying minutes of their match against the Dockers, Tigers' defender Bachar Houli kicked-in poorly from full back, delivering the ball into the hands of his opponents.

Hardwick did not blame Houli during the week, saying errors from a number of different players had cost Richmond the match.

On Friday night he said the player had not let the mistake play on his mind and even managed an important goal.

"He's an incredible person to have at our footy club, to be frank, and not much fazes Bachar," Hardwick said.

"He's an incredible player, he's having a fantastic year, and one blemish doesn't deter from the ability he's got."