Richmond coach Damien Hardwick hasn't given up on Richmond's finals aspirations but he concedes the Tigers find themselves in "the biggest hole" of his tenure.
The Tigers slumped to a third loss from their first four games of 2014 with a 38-point loss to Collingwood on Friday night at the MCG.
"I think it's the biggest hole we've been in," Hardwick said after the match.
"I think the character of us as a football side will be on show for the next month. We've got a long way to go and it was a really disappointing effort tonight."
The next month is set to be season-defining for the Tigers, who have a six-day break before playing the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba next Friday night, and then face reigning premier Hawthorn and Geelong.
But Hardwick wasn't willing to concede his side's season could practically be over within a month.
"I'll just be worried about the four points versus Brisbane," he said.
"We're playing on their dung hole so the season's still alive, it's going to be a very close competition this year.
"It's probably the way we want it (a tough draw), to be honest. To get your best performance, you've got to the set the bar high and to play against the best is where we want to be.
"We've got to address few things, get better and move on."
Richmond captain Trent Cotchin had a tough night at the office, managing just 13 disposals after being well held by Collingwood tagger Brent Macaffer.
"I thought [Cotchin] tried his backside off. We had players try and help but Macaffer … he did a very good job. He kept him to 13 touches, that doesn’t happen very often."
Richmond will fly to Brisbane on Wednesday leaving very little time on the training track for Hardwick to try and restore his team's confidence.
The Tigers will have an extra day’s rest than the Lions, who take on Port Adelaide this afternoon.
Season still alive: Hardwick
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick hasn't given up on Richmond's finals aspirations but he concedes the Tigers find themselves in "the biggest hole" of his tenure.