In his words, with seconds on the clock a "bounce of God" went the way of Jack Riewoldt, whose long kick to Ben Griffiths set Sam Lloyd up to kick the vital goal after the siren.

But Hardwick said his team deserved the win, despite some poor kicking at goal that had helped put Sydney on top for much of the match.

"Credit where credit's due, I thought our boys stood up, our captain in Brett [Deledio] tonight was outstanding and we got the result, which was a fantastic effort," he said.

After six losses and just one win this year, Richmond needed a win or faced playing out the season with very little prospect of making the finals.

Reaching the top eight will still require a dramatic improvement, but with Fremantle and Essendon as their next opponents the Tigers now have a chance to claw their way back up the ladder.

Hardwick, the subject of much criticism in recent weeks, may be off the hook for a while in the eyes of commentators.

The coach shrugged off the suggestion the win would take the spotlight off his own performance.

"There's always pressure in our game," he said.

But in stark contrast to recent weeks, he smiled throughout much of the post-match press conference and joked with reporters about one journalist's dress sense.

The coach said he hoped the game would prove a turning point in the career of Griffiths, who got 20 disposals and kicked five goals, three in the last quarter.

Hardwick said wanted to see greater consistency from the 24-year-old.

"He's been up and down, the kid's got ability, there's no doubt about that," he said.

"He can either rest on his laurels and that can be the best game he can ever play, or he can continue to work hard and be the player we all think he can be."

The relatively small crowd of 36,014 suggested that some Richmond fans may have lacked faith in their team's ability to beat the Swans.

But when Lloyd's goal sailed through to seal the match, the roar was that of a much larger crowd.

"We've been through a tough trot obviously, so for them to show up in force and see the boys fight to that last minute to get the victory is a great result," Hardwick said.

Sydney face much tougher opponents in the coming weeks, as they take on Hawthorn and North Melbourne.