Richmond have weathered a late surge and a five-goal haul from Daniel Bradshaw to win their AFL practice match against the Brisbane Lions on the Gold Coast.

The Tigers had secured a 29-point buffer at three-quartertime, only for the Lions to pile on five goals to two to give themselves a chance of stealing the match.

A brilliant running goal from Josh Drummond from outside 50 gave Brisbane the momentum and got them to within eight points with 10 minutes to go.

But the Tigers were able to stem the flow with two steadying goals from unlikely heroes Jack Riewoldt and Shane Tuck to ensure a 12.13 (85) to 11.4 (70) win.

The Tigers, fielding a near full-strength team, also celebrated a solid performance from Ben Cousins, who played all four quarters and kicked his first goal in the yellow and black.

The new recruit was swamped by his teammates after snapping through a goal on the run midway through the first quarter.

He finished with 31 touches, one of the best performing Tigers of the night, along with Brett Deledio and Troy Simmonds in the ruck.

Matthew Richardson may have failed to register a goal on the scoreboard, but he had a hand in several others and was prominent all over the ground.

He pulled in a brilliant defensive mark running backwards into the Lions' forward 50 late in the last quarter to stem Brisbane's late surge.

The Tigers lost the final quarter five goals to two, but it was enough to take the spoils.

Veteran Bradshaw was a stand-out for the Lions, finishing with five goals - nearly half his team's total score.

He opened the goalscoring for the night, kicking two of the Lions' three for the first term.

In a low-scoring affair, that was enough to keep pace with the Tigers, who threatened to race away several times in the first half.

They kicked four goals in the second quarter to the Lions' two to set a 16-point lead at halftime, before stretching that to 29 with a quarter to play.

Richmond may have come away with the win, but both coaches said they were still working on major improvements heading into the season proper.

Tigers coach Terry Wallace was obviously pleased to have come out on top but rued wasted opportunities in front of goal.

"We had 10 scoring shots more than the owe missed our easy opportunities and when they went forward, they nailed theirs," he said.

"The one thing we've really come away with that we need to tidy up before round one is our conversion rate ... (but) I thought we controlled most aspects of the game for three quarters."

While reluctant to add to the scrutiny on Cousins, Wallace conceded the 30-year-old had helped boost the Tigers' tackling intensity in the vital stages before labelling him "just one player" in the squad.

Lions coach Michael Voss agreed his side had a few issues to work on, but praised the work of Bradshaw, Brown and Mitch Clark, who he rated the best on ground for Brisbane.

"We were sloppy with the ball, we turned it over, we'd fumble a handball," he said.

"We were unable to get the ball forward with any real penetration ... and in our profession, you can't afford to fumble, you can't afford to miss targets.

"Richmond scored 22 times out of our mistakes and that's an enormous amount.

"Realistically they should have put us away sooner than they did."

But Voss was not disappointed by the loss, saying he expected the team to lift before round one begins, when the side should also be boosted by the likes of Simon Black, Ashley McGrath and Jamie Charman.

Both teams have practice matches before round one, when the Tigers tackle Carlton in the opening game of the year and Brisbane host the West Coast Eagles.

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