With a defining month of the AFL season ahead, Richmond captain Trent Cotchin insists the Tigers are hungry enough – and good enough – to better last year’s result.

So far this year, Richmond has led all three of their games in the final quarter but has only held on against Carlton, giving them a 1-2 start.

Despite saying early wins were important, a relaxed Cotchin said there was plenty to take from their two point loss to the Bulldogs on Sunday.

“I think we learnt more from losing that game from winning it,” he said.

According to the 24-year-old skipper, there’s always time to learn – and even the very best in the business would be studying up at this time of year.

“I think all football clubs are in a learning phase,” he said.

“If you spoke to players at Hawthorn, Freo, Geelong, they’re always learning about themselves, the opposition, game trends.”

At Richmond, the focus is on stemming momentum flows – something which has cost them in all three matches so far.

Against the Western Bulldogs, Cotchin said basic skill errors in the first half marked their card.

“On the weekend we had a really poor thirty minutes in the second quarter and ultimately that probably cost us the end result,” he said.

The Tigers can ill-afford similar lapses in concentration with a tough month ahead.

Going into a round eight bye, the Tigers face three of last year’s finalists – including premiers Hawthorn – and take a tricky trip north to face Brisbane at the Gabba.

Richmond might see two wins as a pass mark from those four games; at 2-5, or worse, one win and six losses could be a bridge too far for the finals aspirants.

But Cotchin insists the club is hungry enough to turn their tight matches into wins – based on last year’s finals experience.

“I think we’re hungry enough,” he said.

“Last year hurt us. We thought we were better than what we showed in the finals.”

“I don’t think you can be content with last year’s result.”

“We’ll be doing everything we can to come out and show a real sign of fight.”