On Saturday night, less than a week removed from a rare win, Adem Yze's men threatened a boilover at the Adelaide Oval.
Following a single-digit loss at the hands of premiership fancies the Adelaide Crows, Richmond Tigers coach Adem Yze admitted to being "really disappointed".
His young charges were up to their eyeballs in a clash they were expected to lose - and handsomely - but ultimately lacked the requisite polish to steal what would have been a famous road victory, in soggy conditions.
Numerous free kicks went against the Tigers in the second half, with Adelaide's cooler heads, and ability to keep their feet in the contest, decisive factors. Veterans Jayden Short and Nick Vlastuin had moments to forget, with the former giving away multiple free kicks for contact below the knees, while the latter produced the decisive turnover that ultimately won the Crows the match.
Yze lamented those moments, among others, post-match.
"(We're) really disappointed. (We) gave ourselves an opportunity to win on the road, (in a) hostile environment, against a really strong footy team, and we let ourselves down," he said.
"When I say, "let ourselves down", (I'm referring to) execution, discipline, the things that we can control.
"I couldn't fault our players - our spirit, our grit, our fight. We played the right way, but we've got to be really honest with our performance. Little moments like that in really tough conditions - we didn't either execute well enough, or gave away really costly free kicks and 50s (50m penalties). (It's) very disappointing; we've got to wear that, we've got to own that as a footy club. "
Ralphsmith with the checkside to get the Tigers back within a kick 👀#AFLCrowsTigers pic.twitter.com/lQn3fwHXn0
— AFL (@AFL) August 8, 2026
Despite languishing in 17th position on the ladder, Yze said that internally, the side viewed the rendezvous with Matthew Nicks' high-flying Crows as a precursor for the finals matches they hope to one day feature in, and attempted to bring the contest-focused brand that finals football necessitates to Saturday night's fixture.
"In big games - we wanted to really build this up as a finals-type game, and we tried to play that way. Obviously the conditions suit that - you have to be strong in the contest, you want to win territory, all the metrics that you want to be good at, and that finals teams are good at, we wanted to really test ourselves in that space.
"When you do that and you execute your system the right way, little moments like that are costly.
"Our players that gave away the free kicks or reversals - those players are really disappointed in themselves, and they should be. We'll help them through that (disappointment), we've got to learn from it, but at the same time we've got to be really honest and own it. We let one slip today."
Yze admitted that trying to find answers for Crows skipper Jordan Dawson - who came to life in the second half - tormented his coaching group, as did his side's struggles in front of goal.
"They put Dawson behind the ball in the second half. You're always trying to work out whether to equalise (that loose number) but when you're getting territory and opportunity - we kicked 3.8 in the second half - we had our chances.
"In those conditions you can absorb a (loose) number a bit easier. They're the numbers (metrics) you want to be good at - you want (scoring) opportunity, you want time (in possession), you want pressure (on the ball carrier), and we got that. But like I said, our execution wasn't as good as theirs.
"They were more polished in front of goal, they finished their work. We kicked 0.8 from stoppage. If we tidy some of that up, we could've come away with a really strong performance and a great win on the road, but it isn't to be and we'll lick our wounds and move on."
