Adelaide picked a bad day to have a bad day, with shell-shocked midfielder Paul Seedsman at a loss to explain the Crows' limp grand-final performance.
The AFL's most-potent attack in 2017 was blunted by Richmond's relentless pressure in a 16.12 (108) to 8.12 (60) thumping at the MCG.
"It's unfortunate that on the biggest day, we weren't able to bring our 'A' game and Richmond did," Seedsman told AAP.
"It's all a bit raw ... I'm a bit shocked. Full credit to Richmond, they played really good football and we weren't able to bring it, which is disappointing.
"They pressured well, they outnumbered us at the contest and, going forward, they were a lot more effective than we were.
"Our pressure is as good as anyone's and, unfortunately, we weren't able to bring it to the same level they did.
"That's probably what hurts the most - we didn't control what we can control. Then Richmond's pressure was next level, so you put those two together and you get that result."
The loss is a huge blow to an Adelaide playing group who have dealt with more than their fair share of hardships - the death of coach Phil Walsh and assistant coach Dean Bailey chief among them.
"We bounced back and responded every time. We're a really resilient group - there's no doubt we'll come back from this," Seedsman said.
"I'm sure it's going to hurt for a long time.
"I'll probably lose a fair bit of sleep over it, but we'll grieve then move on.
"We're not going to shy away from this, but the sun will come up in the morning and we'll move forward and make sure that it doesn't happen again."
