Led superbly by acting captain Shane Edwards, undermanned Richmond have out-pressured Sydney for a convincing 22-point AFL win.
Still missing three of their Big Four, the Tigers were outstanding on Saturday night at Marvel Stadium and the 13.11 (89) to 10.7 (67) win was a lot more one-sided than the scoreline suggests.
Edwards continues to shine in his new role of halfback and racked up disposals, while Dusty Martin returned from suspension to kick three goals.
Sydney star Lance Franklin moved to seventh on the AFL's all-time goals table with his four goals.
Following last week's outstanding win over Port Adelaide, the Tigers improved to 3-2.
They have a four-day break ahead of the Anzac Eve match against Melbourne, who like Sydney are languishing near the foot of the ladder with a 1-4 record.
Richmond's first 12 goals came from turnovers, summing up their ability to heap the pressure on Sydney.
The Swans kicked the first two goals of the last quarter to trail by only 23 points, but they were too stagnant and inevitably, Jason Castagna cut off a pass out of defence and iced the win with his goal.
Franklin's third goal, a mark and a superb kick from an acute angle in the third quarter, took him to 927 and ahead of Essendon great Matthew Lloyd on the all-time list.
But overall it was a frustrating night for Franklin, who was starved of effective supply.
At halftime, Sydney were in front for disposals, clearances, hitouts, marks and free kicks.
But the story of the game was Richmond dominating the tackle count 44-25 and inside 50s 33-20 at the main break.
The Tigers had pressured the Swans out of the game as they broke out to a 33-point halftime lead.
Josh Caddy's goal on the halftime siren was a dagger through the heart for the Swans, who paid dearly for too many ball-handling errors.
Sydney staunched the damage in the second half with six goals to four, but they never looked like overrunning the Tigers.
Returning from his one-game striking ban, Martin played mostly as their centre half-forward, with occasional forays into the middle, and was dangerous throughout.
Midfielder Dion Prestia also impressed for Richmond, while Sydney's Jake Lloyd had a game-high 38 disposals.