Not enough Martins as Richmond lose in AFL

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says even if he'd had five Dusty Martins, he still would have lost to Adelaide on Thursday night.

Dustin Martin of the Tigers (ight)

Dustin Martin was the Tigers' stand-out star but couldn't prevent defeat to the Crows. (AAP)

Richmond could have had five Dusty Martin's and still lost to Adelaide, Tigers coach Damien Hardwick says.

Martin kicked five goals and collected 25 disposals but the Crows still won Thursday night's grand final rematch by 36 points.

Martin kept his Tigers in the hunt but Hardwick is lamenting getting his side getting crunched in the packs - the Crows won the contested ball count by 47.

"I can have five Dustin Martins on the ground but the reality is if you go down by 50 contested ball, you're not going to win," Hardwick said.

The Crows also shrewdly picked their way through Richmond's defensive plans, recording 90 uncontested marks to 40.

"They probably changed a little bit of the way they moved the ball," Hardwick said.

"They probably weren't as aggressive with their ball movement through the middle, they chipped and charged a little bit.

"In the second half they had maybe 40 or 50 more uncontested marks than us as well.

"That is something we will look at, it's something we have got to fix with our defence just to get that little bit tighter.

"We will get to work on some areas of our game that got shown up."

Hardwick's Tigers were within nine points early in the final term only for Adelaide to kick away with the final three goals.

"We played a quality opposition, there's no doubt about that, they're outstanding -on their home turf, very hard to beat," Hardwick said.

"The game was pretty close for three and a bit quarters but we let it get away in the end."


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Source: AAP


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