While Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said his side had to start again following round 11's heavy defeat to North Melbourne, Grigg disagreed, suggesting that the Tigers were playing better football and had generated steam in recent weeks.

Sunday's comeback win over Gold Coast was Richmond's fourth win from five games. At 5-7, their finals chances still look remote, but Grigg said the Tigers were on an upward trajectory.

"I think we've been playing better footy." Grigg said following the 17-point victory over the Suns.

"We're four out of five wins the last little patch. We're definitely playing better footy than we were early. We've just got to keep the momentum up."

Richmond's list will have time off ahead of their bye. The Tigers then face a crucial period, with matches against the Brisbane Lions (MCG), Port Adelaide (Adelaide Oval), the Western Bulldogs (Etihad Stadium) and Essendon (MCG) .

Grigg denied the break would halt his team. "I don't think it's going to stop us. It's good to have a week off because the competition's so hard. We'll just reassess, rest up, get some training in and then look to Brisbane."

Hardwick had downplayed talk the Tigers were getting on a roll, arguing that the 70-point loss to the Kangaroos had burst the yellow and black bubble. "Probably the momentum was ceased last week," Hardwick said on Sunday.

"We started again, really disappointed with [that] performance."

Grigg said the Tigers responded well after trailing by 10 points at the final change. The midfielder said Hardwick's three-quarter time message was simple. "It was just 'to fight'. You could go two ways – you can lay down and Gold Coast can run over us or we can stand up and fight, and to the boys' credit we stood up and got the win.

Grigg added that the club's leaders had stood up in the final term. "Cotchy [captain Trent Cotchin], Alex Rance, Brett Deledio, Dusty Martin ... it was good to see big Hammer [Shaun Hampson] go down and take a mark as well."

He thought the Suns (3-9) would provide challenges for teams in the back half of the season. "Gold Coast played really well. We had a bad third quarter, they took advantage of it. It's to the guys' credit that we fought it out in the last quarter to get over the line.

"It's a very tight competition. You can't be off your game at all or else you'll lose."

While Cotchin, Martin and Rance have won most of the plaudits, Grigg's output this season has been strong – averaging more than 26 disposals per game, and not once dropping below 22 disposals. Not that the former Carlton player was too concerned with his own form. "All I care is about how many wins we have. Doesn't really phase me how well I'm playing if we're winning. I just try to play my role every week and help us win."