RICHMOND was beaten around the contest, made fundamental errors at crucial moments and simply ran out of legs in its 24-point elimination final loss to Port Adelaide, according to coach Ryan Ferguson.
Ferguson delivered a fairly blunt indictment of his side's performance in his usual mild-mannered fashion, the tone of voice not indicative of the substance of his quotes.
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Rubbing salt into the wound, he conducted most of the outdoor press conference on Alberton Oval with the Port Adelaide theme song blaring in the background.
"I sense it was a good game of football, but when you're on the other end of it, your mind goes to everything you could have done better," Ferguson said.
"I thought we played some really important moments quite poorly, there were about four or five red-time goals late in quarters, when we had momentum, we'd cough up a goal that was preventable. We've just got to get better at seizing the moment.
"Definitely clearance-wise, the last 3-4 weeks, the opposition teams have been able to sweat on the ball and get out on us. We look really dangerous at times bursting out of stoppage, but we've got to get the balance better to be able to have a better territory game.
"We've put ourselves under too much pressure by conceding too many clearances.
"I still feel like it was a great game of footy, the ebbs and flows. We had great momentum at times, really looked in control, we looked dangerous, but there were moments of execution – we've just got execute the fundamentals better when we've got them on the ropes. The moments of the momentum of the game, they make a big difference, and if you can jump on them and take them, versus cough up a few at the wrong time, it can make a big difference."
Katie Brennan (hamstring) finished the game on the bench, while Poppy Kelly and Ellie McKenzie received running repairs in the final term.
"We probably did run into the ground a little bit. The last few weeks, we've had players really soldiering on and playing sore and getting up and doing the job. We didn't have the luxury of making sure we could rotate and rest our players, to the point where in the last quarter there was a bit of a casualty ward on the bench," Ferguson said.
"Skipper's hamstring wasn't looking great there, and we don't want to risk her long-term. She wanted to get back on, and we wanted to get her back on, but we couldn't be reckless with it.
"We had a few sick and sore bodies, some severe cramp out there. They ploughed on, they kept going and going, but they did run into the ground a little bit."
Port coach Lauren Arnell was thrilled both with her side's maiden AFLW finals victory, and the standard of game in regards to the competition as a whole.
"It's amazing. I think last week here (Alberton Oval), round 11, beating the Giants in the last minute was incredible. But to watch a complete performance against a very, very good team in Richmond, I'm so proud of our group," Arnell said.
"I'm proud of the footy that got played, I think to both teams' [credit], they play quite similar, some exceptional players out there. I'm really, really proud of our group, but I'm really proud of the game that both teams were able to play."
Port Adelaide has now won seven games in a row this season, having only managed three wins and two draws across its two previous seasons.
"I think the maturity has been the biggest growth. There's so many statistical areas that have grown as well, and we rank ourselves – our team D (defence) was 17th in the comp at the end of last year, and now we're obviously significantly better than that," Arnell said.
"I've been talking pretty bullishly for the last almost three years about building offence, and to be able to put out an offensive game today and be strong in the contest, and defend really well.
"That's the style of footy I think we should be seeing in the AFLW, and again, I'm really, really proud that both teams were able to put on such a good game."
