DAMIEN Hardwick has refused to blame Bachar Houli's turnover from a kick-in for the Tigers' dramatic four-point loss to Fremantle, instead pointing to his side's wastefulness in front of goal for the deflating defeat.

And the Richmond coach says the loss could define his side's season by making or breaking the Tigers' push towards finals and, hopefully, still a top-four berth.

Five talking points: Richmond v Fremantle

The Tigers led Fremantle for most of Saturday's clash, but booted 10.18 and hit the post six times to keep the door open for the never-say-die Dockers at the MCG.

Richmond was in front from midway through the second quarter until the final minute of the game.

With 81 seconds to play and the Tigers leading by two points, Houli inexplicably went long down the centre corridor to outnumbered teammate Kane Lambert.

Garrick Ibbotson intercepted the kick and kicked short to Dockers hero David Mundy inside 50, with the star midfielder showing nerves of steel to boot the match-winning set shot with just 31 seconds left on the clock.

"You can look at it one of two ways. You can look at the last mistake, Bachar knows … or you can look at the 10.18 (and) we hit the post six times," Hardwick said post-match.

"At the end of the day we had our chances to win the game and we didn't take it. It's easy to focus just on the last mistake of the day, but our game was littered with mistakes.

WATCH: Damien Hardwick's full post-match media conference

"As harsh as it was, if you don't take your opportunities … we had more than ample opportunities to win the game and we didn't.

"As you can imagine, (Bachar's) a proud man, he's disappointed. He'll be OK."

The Tigers missed a golden opportunity to move level with the fourth placed Sydney Swans, and could fall two wins behind the top four if the Swans upset West Coast in Perth on Sunday.


Richmond now faces a blockbuster clash against the white-hot Hawks on Friday night, which could have huge ramifications on the Tigers’ fight for the double-chance in finals.

"It could work one of two ways. It can either break us or it can make us," Hardwick said of the Dockers loss.

"I know this group, they're resilient, they'll cop their fair whack. We lost a game we should've won, but we get an opportunity – that's the great thing about AFL footy – and there's no bigger opportunity than next Friday night.

"We play a side that's playing as good a footy as I've seen. So you want a way to redeem yourself, that's the way you go about it.

"You can sit there and bitch and moan and complain, but the fact of the matter is that game's gone now. We move on."

Hardwick was pleased with the Tigers controlling possession (+22) and contested ball (+17) against Freo, but lamented giving up nine of their opponents' 12 goals from stoppages.

The loss of ruckman Shaun Hampson (ankle) just after half-time hurt the Tigers, with Freo giant Aaron Sandilands getting on top and feeding his big-bodied midfielders.

"He was good up until half-time. It was difficult to know how much it did hurt us," Hardwick said of Hampson.

The Tigers coach was unsure about the severity of Hampson's injury, but the big man was unable to put weight on his ankle after the game.

Richmond will have Ty Vickery available next weekend after serving his two-game suspension.