Richmond coach Adem Yze admits the Tigers had “a split personality in the rooms” after a heartbreaking three-point loss to GWS.
The Tigers led by as much as 34 points halfway through the third term in the Round 12 clash, as they went on to dominate centre clearances 16-5 and contested ball 149-120, leaving even Giants coach Adam Kingsley to concede "we didn't deserve to win that game".
The return of Dion Prestia for his first game of the season after being sidelined with an Achilles injury helped the Tigers take charge of the stoppages, while former Giants Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto were also influential.
However, GWS booted five goals to none in the last quarter which proved to be enough for them to record a 12.8 (80) to 10.17 (77) victory.
The narrow defeat is the third in a row where the Tigers have paid the price for one poor quarter while they also suffered from wayward kicking for goal when on top in the second and third terms.
Speaking after the clash, Yze explained how he is confident the Club is on the right path as it continues to build valuable experience into its talented group of youngsters.
"That is deflating. I feel we've almost got a split personality in the rooms at the moment," Tigers coach Adem Yze said.
"I'm so proud of our effort, so proud of our start, and to be fair, so proud of every quarter really. The last quarter got away from us a little bit, but it wasn't method, it wasn't system, it was just slight role execution.
"Their good players played really well in the last quarter and they just finished their work.
“As a group, we sit here really flat, but at the same time knowing we are on the right path.
“We came up here on a mission as a footy club. Our VFL team had a great win and we were a few minutes from having an enormous win.
“We will look at all the reasons behind it, all the positives of why we started well, why we dominated for majority of the game, and then find out the reasons why we let the last quarter get away from us…(we are) really disappointed.”
The Tigers return to the MCG on Saturday to face the Sydney Swans.
