RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick says a team with five Dustin Martins couldn’t have reversed the result at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night, given the Tigers’ poor showing in one key statistic.

They were smashed 192 to 144 in contested ball – a cornerstone of Richmond’s 2017 and a highlight of the Grand Final win.

Hardwick said they were out hunted and out worked.

"Not often we’ve been touched up by close to 50 around the contest; that was incredibly disappointing," he said.

"I can have five Dustin Martins on the ground but the reality is if you go down by 50 contested ball you’re not going to win.

"The game has been around for over 150 years and it’s a pretty simple concept. You win the ball it goes forward, you don’t, it goes the other way."

The Crows were also dominant in the air, bringing down 54 more marks than their opponents.

Hardwick put that down to a subtle change to the way the Crows were moving the ball – he detected a "chip-and-charge" approach that gave them the advantage.

"That’s something we’ll look at, something we’ve got to fix with our defence just to get that a little bit tighter," he said.

And Alex Rance was well beaten in the first half with Josh Jenkins kicking four of his five goals before the long break.

But the 28-year-old bounced back and finished with 19 disposals.

Hardwick said it was a tough night for the All Australian.

"He wasn’t quite himself in the first half, but credit where credit is due, he got himself back playing some good footy. He started to back himself a little bit more, which is the Alex we know," Hardwick said.

"I think Josh (Jenkins) was really good early and Tex (Walker) kicked four, so those big boys hurt us on the scoreboard tonight.

"There was a lot of guys that had a down night on the same night. Taking nothing away from the Crows but we expect a better result moving forward."