Richmond coach Adem Yze has expressed disappointment in his team's performance on Sunday, as they lost all four quarters and were defeated by 79 points by a rampant Western Bulldogs outfit at Marvel Stadium.
The second quarter, in particular, felt like a step back for the Tigers, conceding seven goals, giving star forward Sam Darcy too much space inside 50, being punished on turnovers, and letting the Dogs run through them too easily.
While the loss itself won't be of great consequence, the challenge of remaining competitive in the second half of the season with an inexperienced squad looms large.
Four players in Sunday's match, including debutant Jasper Alger, were taking part in their first season at AFL level, so their collective output may wane at the tail end of the season if not managed.
Lalor and Harry Armstrong have also debuted but are currently sidelined, as is top-10 selection Josh Smillie, who could push his case for a late-season AFL berth, while a further six from Sunday's match have fewer than 50 AFL games under their belt.
While clearly on a journey, Yze conceded that Sunday's loss was concerning.
"The second quarter just wasn't to standard," Yze said.
"That's been a couple of weeks in a row where we've started okay and just didn't maximise our opportunities at the start.
"We had eight shots on goal in the first quarter and ended up with two goals.
"I felt like that affected our spirit.
"It looked like we were working so hard to get our opportunities and their execution in the first quarter (meant) they had less chances but made more of each one.
"It felt like we should have been in a better position at quarter time, and whether that affected our spirit…but in our second quarter, we lost our way.
"To the boys' credit, our response in the second half was better, but they were too good."
A flood of talented youngsters and a string of competitive hitouts have given Richmond fans plenty of hope in 2025.
Sam Lalor announced himself and would be in the race for the rising star, if not for injury.
Luke Trainor has quickly become an important asset off halfback, while tall trio Harry Armstrong, Jonty Faull and Tom Sims have been given game time and shown their potential.
But in between that have still been some heavy defeats, with Sunday's loss the Tigers' fifth loss by 10 goals or more as they managed just one goal to halftime.
The run home includes matches against Adelaide, Geelong twice, Collingwood and Gold Coast, all of which are competing for top-four spots.
