Royal: No Wallace, no worries

Richmond assistant coach Brian Royal said the Tigers didn't miss a beat during the week despite Terry Wallace being hospitalised with a respiratory infection.

Wallace spent much of the week doing planning for the game against Essendon from his hospital bed but was in the coaches' box at the MCG for the Tigers' thrilling four-point win on Saturday.

Royal, deputising for Wallace at his post-match media conference, said there was never any doubt the club's plans for such eventualities would come off.

"We've got a really good organisation and a strong coaching staff. The great thing about mobile phones is you can continually keep in contact and we spoke regularly to Terry whether that be at home or from the hospital bed," Royal said.

"Terry was doing a lot of work while he was away from the club and he's got a lot of trust in the full coaching staff to make sure the day-to-day running of the footy club runs like clockwork."

Royal was proud the players were able to claw out a victory after being challenged late by the Bombers, who booted six consecutive goals during the third term to snatch an unlikely lead.

"What happens in AFL football in this day and age, the game is played so quickly and you can lose control very quickly," he said. "It was fantastic from our guys to halt the momentum and then take control back of the game."

While the win keeps Richmond's finals hopes intact, Royal said the club wasn't looking beyond next Saturday night when it faces Brisbane at Telstra Dome.

"At the moment we're probably not looking that far (finals) ahead. We've got Brisbane next week and we've just got to keep knocking them over. Whether that becomes a finals appearance we don't know, we can only control our own destiny by beating teams who are coming up week in, week out," he said.