Notwithstanding a spate of injuries to key playing personnel, and a 48-point loss, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick did find positives out of what was a tough night for the Tigers, in their final NAB Challenge match against Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium.

 “Granted we lost some players, but I thought in the third quarter, although we were behind on the scoreboard, we actually looked pretty good at various stages . . . We just couldn’t quite finish off our work,” Hardwick said.

“The last quarter you can pretty much write off.  But, prior to that, I thought at various stages Port had us on the ropes and we had them on the ropes.  

“It was a bit of a topsy-turvy game . . . a hard game to read. 

“I was happy with our game at stages, but some of our decision-making errors were laughable at various stages also. 

“So, we’ve got some work to do, and we’ll clean those things up prior to the Round 1 game v Carlton . . .

“My main priority’s to get a fit and fired-up Richmond side for Round 1, not to win a practice match.”