RICHMOND was beaten around the contest, made fundamental errors at crucial moments and simply ran out of legs in its 24-point elimination final loss to Port Adelaide, according to coach Ryan Ferguson.
"I sense it was a good game of football, but when you're on the other end of it, your mind goes to everything you could have done better," Ferguson said.
"I thought we played some really important moments quite poorly, there were about four or five red-time goals late in quarters, when we had momentum, we'd cough up a goal that was preventable. We've just got to get better at seizing the moment.
"Definitely clearance-wise, the last 3-4 weeks, the opposition teams have been able to sweat on the ball and get out on us. We look really dangerous at times bursting out of stoppage, but we've got to get the balance better to be able to have a better territory game.
"We've put ourselves under too much pressure by conceding too many clearances.
"I still feel like it was a great game of footy, the ebbs and flows. We had great momentum at times, really looked in control, we looked dangerous, but there were moments of execution – we've just got execute the fundamentals better when we've got them on the ropes. The moments of the momentum of the game, they make a big difference, and if you can jump on them and take them, versus cough up a few at the wrong time, it can make a big difference."
Katie Brennan (hamstring) finished the game on the bench, while Poppy Kelly and Ellie McKenzie received running repairs in the final term.
"We probably did run into the ground a little bit. The last few weeks, we've had players really soldiering on and playing sore and getting up and doing the job. We didn't have the luxury of making sure we could rotate and rest our players, to the point where in the last quarter there was a bit of a casualty ward on the bench," Ferguson said.
"Skipper's hamstring wasn't looking great there, and we don't want to risk her long-term. She wanted to get back on, and we wanted to get her back on, but we couldn't be reckless with it.
"We had a few sick and sore bodies, some severe cramp out there. They ploughed on, they kept going and going, but they did run into the ground a little bit."
