The Tigers (five wins, seven losses, one draw) moved to within six competition points of the top eight with a hard-fought 15-point victory over Fremantle in Perth on Saturday night.

It marked the second win in a row under McQualter, with Richmond's only loss since Damien Hardwick's shock resignation being a respectable 10-point defeat to flag fancies Port Adelaide three weeks ago.

Richmond face St Kilda at the MCG next Saturday, with the match marking Cotchin's 300th AFL appearance.

Cotchin tallied 28 disposals and seven clearances against the Dockers to show there's still life in his ageing legs, and Richmond will be desperate to taste victory in the 33-year-old's milestone match.

"It's an amazing achievement by Trent to play 300 games. It hasn't been done by many people," McQualter said of the three-time premiership skipper.

"He's been an incredible player for our football club.

"We sometimes forget how good a footballer Trent is, I think.

"Just an incredible competitor, loves a challenge, and his last fortnight of footy has been really good."

Veteran forward Jack Riewoldt had extra reason to celebrate on Saturday night after joining Kevin Bartlett in equal third for the most goals kicked by a Richmond player.

Jack Titus (970 goals) and Matthew Richardson (800) fill the first two slots, with Riewoldt booting two crucial third-quarter goals against Fremantle to join Bartlett on 778 career majors.

"He had a pretty quiet first half Jack, and he's just such a proud competitor," McQualter said.

"So to come out in that third quarter - he just keeps giving himself opportunity. He fights so hard in the contest.

"He was able to have a huge contribution to our win tonight."

Richmond forward Rhyan Mansell could be suspended for his high bump on Fremantle winger James Aish, while Jack Graham will be sweating on his dump tackle on young Docker Matthew Johnson.

As for Fremantle, they now sit at 6-6 ahead of next week's clash with GWS.

The Dockers trailed Richmond by 36 points in the third quarter before launching a frenetic comeback, but coach Justin Longmuir was left to bemoan his team's poor first half.

"We didn't play as smart as we've been playing," Longmuir said.

"We didn't work off each other. We allowed them goal side from stoppage and from most contests, which was pretty much one of the most important things we wanted to deny from them.

"I thought we were able to control that a bit better in the second half, but we left ourselves way too much work to do."

Australian Associated Press