RICHMOND'S lack of discipline was a costly factor in its qualifying final defeat to Brisbane, according to coach Damien Hardwick.

But the two-time premiership coach was also unhappy with the umpiring in his team's Gabba loss on Friday night. 

LIONS V TIGERS Full match coverage and stats

The Tigers conceded three crucial goals late in the second term to give up the lead before the main break, and they were never able to secure it back in their 15-point loss.  

The final goal before half-time came to Lachie Neale after he was awarded back-to-back 50m penalties. Hardwick, who has lamented his team's ill-discipline over the course of this season, said it struck again at a bad time. 

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"I just thought we gave away undisciplined free kicks in the back end of that second quarter and the reality is that was the difference in the game," he said post-game. 

"It's disappointing, we control that, so we need to get better in that part of the game. Every now and then it rears its ugly head and unfortunately it's on the big stage, so it's really disappointing. 

"The players know, they understand [it is an issue]. The situation is it’s a volatile game, players will get angry."  

Hardwick also aired concerns about the umpiring in the clash, with Brisbane leading the count 17-11 for frees (lower than both teams’ season average). He encouraged the game to be kept more open.  

"At the end of the day the game is umpired in a certain way. It's a final, let them play. It's for the players to play," he said. 

The Tigers entered the clash on a six-game winning streak but were outplayed by a Brisbane line-up fired up by a home crowd. Hardwick credited Brisbane as the "better side", but said his charges were sloppy across the night.  

"I thought we fumbled and bumbled a hell of a lot. Most our chains there'd be a mistake along the way where we either slipped over or we missed a handball or dropped the ball," he said. 

"Those sort of things that are half-chances you can't afford to not take in an AFL final. There's a lot of areas I thought we played poorly in that we can get better next week."  

The Tigers will now face the winner of Saturday's elimination final between St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs in next week's semi-final, which Hardwick said the Tigers would prefer to be played at Metricon Stadium.

They will regain key forward Tom Lynch for the clash after he was ruled out of the first final with his hamstring injury.