Richmond was stoic in its efforts across Monday night's 18-point loss to Melbourne, leading the Demons by as much as 25 points in the second quarter, but coach Damien Hardwick said the Tigers had let themselves down in key moments.

"The players will get better. Sometimes there was pressure there and other times [it was like] the players thought they were seeing ghosts. There were times we thought we'd be out but we made a fundamental flaw and that happens from time to time," he said.

"You have some players who are learning the craft, learning the game with us but it's just probably happening a little bit too much at the moment, which is a little bit disappointing."

The Tigers turned to young talls Samson Ryan and Ben Miller to shoulder the ruck load against Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy, but Hardwick said the experienced Melbourne pair got control as the game wore on and were crucial as Richmond remained with just one win from their first six games.

"They were gallant early but I thought Brodie Grundy was a difference-maker in the end. I thought he just dominated that ruck battle and we had to make a change," he said.