Jason, we only played 1 good quarter of footy, Richmond were pretty bloody ordinary themselves until 10 minutes into the last quarter, and only some pretty dodgy interpretations of holding the ball/illegal disposal and loose marking interpretations kept them in front.
But discussing just one facet of the game, Our players are learning not to kick inside 50 if there is no-one in there, but that stuffs up our options and leads to the turnovers. Look at what worked in the 3rd quarter, Cox in the forward line and leading at the footy, and frees being paid. The first of those reasons, Cox forward and playing as a forward, is due to coaching, and should have been done at the first bounce. The second may well have been an aberration, but it sure helped.
Our mids had the skill to win the clearances easily, so they can't be blamed, our backs fought against the odds, so they have excuses. Our tall forwards (except for the third quarter ) played up on the wing, did they disobey coaching instructions? If so why were they not dragged? McCarthy continues to stand and wrestle opponents while some other opponent floats in and takes the uncontested mark.
Cox and Fyfe showed him (and Lyon) what happens if you run and jump at the footy. He has had enough time back from his missed year for that to not be an excuse any more. Drop him or swap him for Fyfe and give us a couple of targets up forward. That application of tactics is the coaches job, that is why some of us believe the coach should be relieved.