RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick said the Tigers were shattered with Friday night's draw with St Kilda, and would treat the result against last year's grand finalists as a loss.
The Richmond players were clearly disappointed after the match, with captain Chris Newman frustrated by the second game in a row where the Tigers have failed to claim the four points after being in a winning position.
"I know we come away with two points but we feel disappointed with the loss. I think from where we've come from, people will think it's as good as a win," Hardwick said after the deadlock at the MCG.
"It's unacceptable as far as we're concerned. We should have won that ball game. We probably dominated for the last three quarters and we couldn't get the result.
"I was proud of the boys' efforts but they've still got a fair way to go in some areas."
Hardwick admitted his players had come a long way since the first half of last season, when it took them 10 rounds to notch their first win.
However, he said the players had an "insatiable hunger" and simply wanted to win, and wouldn't be satisfied with nearly beating sides like Carlton and St Kilda.
"They've been down for a long, long time, we've got a young group that is exciting, they play, as you saw tonight, a great brand of footy," he said.
"We know we're going places, we know it's going to take some time, but they're not interested in a draw, our blokes. They're as disappointed as you'll see."
He said the club was satisfied with the decision made to rule Jack Riewoldt out with concussion after he whacked his head on the turf in the first quarter.
"At the end of the day, he wasn't right to come back on," he said.
"From our point of view, we lose a good player. We'll lose a battle but we'll win a war with him.
"The doctors made a really good, informed decision and we were happy with the decision he made, and we move on."
It took nearly a quarter for that call to be made, with the Coleman medallist put through vigorous testing before he was told he would be subbed with Brad Helbig under the game's new concussion rule.
Hardwick said Riewoldt's display of frustration on the sidelines after being told to don the red vest was not something he would look to remove from his personality.
"That's his passion and why he's a good player. He's a passionate kid," he said.
"He wanted to win the game, there's no doubt. At the end of the day, I won't take that off him."
