St Kilda went to Etihad Stadium on Friday night with great expectations and limped away on the wrong end of a fierce AFL lesson.
Richmond belted them in the first half on the way to a regulation 54-point win, bringing the Saints' promising month of improvement to a shuddering halt.
After winning three of their previous four games, St Kilda were shown how badly they remain off the pace.
"We certainly were given a footy lesson - in fact we spent most of our time talking about Richmond with the players post-game," said coach Alan Richardson.
"No, we didn't get near them early - they were just way too physical and way too dynamic.
"So that was disappointing.
"The feedback was why are they so consistently strong, even in their defeats - they play a certain way ... I would hope the players have real clarity on what that looks like."
Richardson said the Saints were confident they could take it up to Richmond, given the improvements in the previous few weeks.
"It says there's a gap, clearly, doesn't it - when a club like Richmond are at their best, we're not there yet," he said.
"I was expecting more. We were expecting more of each other."
Richardson was pleased the Saints showed grit in the second half, but the damage was done.
Jack Steven gave the Saints one highlight when he kicked a contender for goal of the year at the start of the third term.
Richardson said the mid-air volley was flukey, but was more interested in how it happened.
"He wanted to do something about the situation - he charged forward to outnumber and surprise, surprise, he gets opportunity," the coach said.
"It's a bit like (what Dion) Prestia did for all of the game, like a lot of their midfielders did for big parts of the game.
"They were just too good for us."
St Kilda have a tough away assignment next Saturday against GWS and Richardson said they must rebound from Friday night's poor performance.
"We won't throw the baby out with the bathwater in the way our footy has been going," he said.
"We think there's been much more right than wrong."
Richardson said Nathan Freeman remains a chance for his much-anticipated senior debut, but added it depends on the injury-plagued midfielder being able to displace someone from their AFL side.