DREAMTIME at the 'G will kick off on Saturday with the Long Walk, but the Dreamtime game's media conference yesterday began with a long wait. A very long wait.

For 45 minutes the biggest show in town was put on hold for the biggest kahuna from this town — Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard was due to make an appearance, and whether it was those nasty traffic snarls over the West Gate Bridge or that small concern of running the country that was holding her up, she was running late.

When she did arrive, Gillard — well aware of the esteem in which our game is held — was quick to highlight the reason why she had joined representatives from Richmond and Essendon, and Bombers' great Michael Long, on a crisp May morning at the MCG.

"It's impossible to talk about AFL, to think about AFL, to recount the great moments in the past of AFL, or to imagine its future, without talking and thinking about the role that indigenous Australians have played in this great game," she said.

And then it was down to business. Saturday night looms as Richmond's best chance in recent weeks to capitalise on the good form it has been showing and get a win on the board.

Having put in valiant efforts against Geelong, St Kilda, Hawthorn and the Bulldogs for the paltry return of two premiership points, coach Terry Wallace indicated that his side soon expected to reap the fruits of their labour.

"We believe that we've been playing much better football in the last month or so than what we have probably (played) in any time that I've been at the club," he said.

But the message from Wallace's opposite was markedly different. Having endured a horror month that has included three heavy losses and a long list of injuries, Essendon coach Matthew Knights appears to be making the future his focus.

"As a coach, for me it's not about short-term, it's about building this club with a vision of having sustained success over a long period, and we realise it's going to take some time to bring the young group through together," he said.

That journey included winning games along the way. "We are going out there to win every game that we play in, that should be the culture," he said.

To that end, Knights has the unenviable task of choosing a match-up for Tiger Matthew Richardson, whose move to the wing has seen him regain his standing among the game's elite.

Knights suggested that Nathan Lovett-Murray, who joined him at the MCG yesterday, could be the man for the job, though the young player had other ideas.

"I'd like to see Paddy Ryder maybe playing on him," Lovett-Murray said.

"Now you're on match committee as well?" Knights quipped.

For the Tigers, Wallace indicated that Trent Cotchin had sufficiently impressed on debut last week to retain his place in the side, while Patrick Bowden had benefited from a month in the VFL.