RICHMOND'S senior players are not solely to blame for Friday night's meltdown against Collingwood and all 22 should share responsibility for the loss, according to forward Kane Lambert.

The Tigers have come under fierce scrutiny for letting a 17-point lead slip deep in the fourth quarter of their round two clash, going down after conceding a goal with just four seconds remaining. 

Captain Trent Cotchin has borne the brunt of the criticism, along with senior player Ty Vickery, who chose to play on at a crucial stage of the game rather than soaking up time.

But Lambert said it was not right to single out the senior group, and the entire team should have been better in executing the coaches' plan in the dying minutes. 

"All 22 take responsibility. It's not one or two, it's all 22," Lambert said.

"We just failed to execute when it mattered. It was poor decisions and our execution.

"We've got to take action as players, whether it's sending a number behind the ball or making it a more contested style of game to keep the ball in close.

"We've got to make decisions at times … I'm sure if we're in that position again we'll learn from this."

On the criticism of Cotchin, who has also been defended by Hawthorn counterpart Luke Hodge, Lambert said: "I'm extremely comfortable having Trent as my captain".

"Ever since I walked into the club last year, Trent's impressed me with the way he goes about his footy and the way he leads this footy club," he said.

Richmond leads the AFL since 2010 for losing a lead in the final three minutes, squandering five matches in that period.

Lambert said the Tigers had been put through "a refresher" on their game style for late in games when they hold a manageable lead. 

Can a narrow loss be avoided, or is it luck?

"We trained this all summer and unfortunately we failed to execute," he said. 

"It's out of the coaches' hands at that time of the game and as players we take responsibility.

"We should have been better in that last five minutes."

On his own form, Lambert was pleased with the impact his growing fitness base and increased size had had in the opening two rounds.

The 24-year-old, who arrived at the Tigers as a mature-age VFL recruit, has been particularly impressive late in games and he admitted he was a fan of the new interchange cap "to some degree". 

"With the rotations being capped at 90 we've got to find a way to stay on the ground longer and be more efficient," he said.

"If that can be late in games and I can use it to my advantage then I'm happy with that."