RICHMOND's inability to deal with North Melbourne's defensive tactics earned it a deserved "arse-whipping" at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, Tigers coach Damien Hardwick says.

Richmond suffered its heaviest defeat of the year against the Roos, barely offering a whimper as it slumped to a 62-point loss.

After the match Hardwick said the Tigers had prepared for North's tactic of playing key defender Lachlan Hansen loose in its defensive 50, but had not been able to combat it on the day. 

"They like to attack from the back half so we sort of knew that was coming, we made a real key focus this week of lowering our eyes inside 50 ... (but it) didn't happen," Hardwick said.

"If you bomb the ball to [an area where you're outnumbered], which we knew we were going to get, you're always going to get an arse-whipping and that's what happened today. 

"(In the) second half we probably did a little bit better in that area, but it shouldn't be something that we focus on all week and take till half-time to fix."

Hardwick described the Tigers' performance as ordinary, saying the Roos had been harder and worked harder than his team.

But he was prepared to put the loss down as a one-off, saying it did not undo the good work that had taken the Tigers to sixth on the ladder (9-5). 

"You don't want to lump the whole season into one game," Hardwick said. 

"It's just disappointing that we came out and wanted to play a good style of footy and just couldn't get our game up and going. 

"We just played a really bad game of footy today, it's no deeper than that. The reality is we just had a really poor game."

In better news for the Tigers, Hardwick said he expected Bachar Houli (a late withdrawal with hamstring soreness), Brandon Ellis (concussion) and Daniel Jackson (ankle) would all be available to play against Gold Coast next Saturday at Cairns’ Cazaly Stadium.

"Bachar was obviously a late withdrawal. He had a tight hamstring yesterday so we sort of wanted to see how he pulled up, but obviously today (he) wasn't feeling comfortable so we withdrew him early," Hardwick said. 

"And Brandon was just a knock in the head I think, so we'll just wait and see on that one.

"(Jackson) hurt (his ankle) early and then hurt it again late. 

"I'd say all those three will be available next week."

Hardwick also confirmed ruckman Ivan Maric, who has missed the past two rounds with a groin injury, would return against Gold Coast.

The Tigers take on the Suns knowing they have lost their past two encounters to them in Cairns.

But Hardwick said Richmond would not change its preparation in the lead-up to the match and was adamant playing in Cairns held no fears for his team.

"Last year's last year," Hardwick said of the Tigers' loss to the Suns in 2012. 

"I can bring up 10 years ago, do you want to see how we went then? 

"Reality is we're a different footy side this year."