Over the last two weekends, Richmond have had stark lessons in what they must and must not do in Sunday's AFL match against Fremantle, which they need to win.
The Tigers are sixth, one-and-a-half games behind the fifth-placed Dockers and on the verge of their first finals appearance in 12 years.
The MCG clash against the Dockers and the following games against Hawthorn (top) and Sydney (third) represent a huge test of Richmond's bona fides.
The Tigers were awful in the 62-point loss to North Melbourne in round 15 and then worked hard to beat Gold Coast last weekend in challenging Cairns conditions.
Coach Damien Hardwick said in different ways, the North and Suns games were dress rehearsals for what faces them this weekend.
"Every game, you take on its merits," Hardwick said.
"Last week was a highly-contested game because of the conditions.
"I think we had 155 contested possessions - that's sort of what a Fremantle game is like.
"We tick that box.
"The other aspect is North were a slingshot type side, similar to Fremantle, so we get a look at that also."
In a season of great expectations at Punt Rd, the North loss was a kicking that might do Richmond a lot of good.
The Kangaroos crowded Richmond's forward line, starved them of rebound off half-back and were relentless in their own counter-attack - all Fremantle trademarks under coach Ross Lyon.
Indeed, since Lyon started his senior coaching career at St Kilda in 2007, he has never lost to the Tigers.
His record against Richmond is nine wins and a draw.
There are no secrets about what will confront the Tigers this Sunday.
"What we do very well, it's only going to be a 12-goal game," Hardwick said.
"The winner will get 12, the loser will get lower than that, obviously.
"But it's a matter of who can defensively stand up."
What Hardwick definitely does not want to see a repeat of is North Melbourne's 33 scoring shots against Richmond.
"Good sides don't give up 30 shots on goal," he said.
"That's generally what we hang our hat on.
"We certainly learnt a few things, it was a good kick in the backside so, defensively, we will be in a better mindset this week."
While planning for Fremantle has occupied his mind this week, Hardwick is unfazed by Richmond's poor record this season against other current top-eight sides.
"We've played two really poor games for the year - one was the Essendon game, the other was Collingwood," he said.
"Essendon, we just didn't get up and going at any stage and Collingwood, we just had a bad day.
"Geelong, we were in the game and then we lost our two rucks.
"It's more of an external one, we're not too worried about it."
The Tigers' only win this season against a side now in the top eight was Port Adelaide in round seven.
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