KANE Cornes has revealed he "had it out" with Richmond coach Damien Hardwick in a "robust" phone conversation between the pair on Monday.

The war of words erupted in Saturday night's St Kilda-Richmond clash when Cornes took to social media to question the Tigers' complacency, prompting Hardwick to return fire when alerted post-match.

Cornes said he reached out to Hardwick over the weekend and received a call back from the coach. 

"Without divulging too much, it was a pretty robust conversation that we had this afternoon and I appreciated him calling me back," Cornes told Channel Nine on Monday night. 

"Look, we had it out. I stand by my comments and he stood by his. 

"But there's no question that Richmond got ahead of themselves (on Saturday night) and I said that to him on the phone."

Both Cornes and Hardwick played in the 2004 premiership with Port Adelaide.

Cornes acknowledged he had a "history" of criticising the Tigers, highlighting where strains in the relationship between he and Hardwick began to emerge.

"We have a premiership reunion every Thursday before the Grand Final and it did get back to me that he was upset with a few comments that I'd made over a long period of time," Cornes said. 

"But he made that very clear that he separates me as the media performer and a former teammate, and there's no hard feelings.

"I've been critical of (Tigers captain) Trent Cotchin, I've been critical at Richmond, I was really critical of their finals performance going back a while (and) I was critical of the fact they dress up on Mad Monday and celebrate poor seasons."

During the second quarter of the Tigers' 67-point loss, Cornes tweeted: "If a top four side concedes 32 inside 50s in 45mins of play it means you've got ahead of yourself. No other explanation." 

Hardwick did not mince his words when alerted to Cornes' tweet during his media conference.

"Seriously, I'd love to see Kane. I'd really love to see Kane," Hardwick said. 

"Don't get me wrong, that's his job – he's there to write shit comments." 

Asked whether Cornes' observation deserved any "credibility", Hardwick instantly replied: "Please." 

On Sunday, Cornes said he "was surprised with the language" the Richmond coach adopted after the game.