Hird said a combination of poor decisions and Richmond's level of pressure around the ball contributed to the Bombers' lack of polish.
""I think our ball use let us down, we didn’t use the ball well at all,"" Hird said.
""Our kicking efficiency was (in the) mid-50s and it's very hard to win games of footy doing that. We came up against a side who were really good.""
""They put a lot of pressure on us and that's probably the reason why we didn’t kick well, because they defended the ground well,"" he said.
Essendon won the contested possession tally (176-142), the inside 50s (59-47) and the clearances (50-28) but were unable to make them count, wasting the ball going forward.
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With a bye approaching next round, a victory would have seen the Bombers in the healthy position of six-and-a half wins after nine games; but Hird said blowing that chance before the week off was not the reason for his disappointment.
""It's just disappointing to lose a game that you go out and you think that if you play well enough, you're a good chance to win. We didn't, so it's disappointing to lose, and disappointing to lose on big occasions as well,"" he said.
Hird said most of the players would be given until next Thursday to refresh before facing Melbourne in round 11, where he hoped to have several injured players available for selection, including Jobe Watson (hamstring) and Michael Hurley (calf).
""The bye has probably come at exactly the right time,"" he said.
""Maybe if it had come a week earlier it might have helped us, but our injuries should mainly come back. Jobe and Hurley should come back for the Melbourne game, so it'll help us out there.""
Essendon fell down across its half-forward line, but Hird said marking target Patrick Ryder was still a solid contributor to the side, despite only picking up nine possessions and not hitting the scoreboard.
""We look at Paddy's game differently than you guys in terms of marks and goals, handballs and kicks. Paddy is playing OK, he's not playing as well as we'd love him to, but he's actually playing OK,"" he said.
With a bye approaching next round, a victory would have seen the Bombers in the healthy position of six-and-a half wins after nine games; but Hird said blowing that chance before the week off was not the reason for his disappointment.
""It's just disappointing to lose a game that you go out and you think that if you play well enough, you're a good chance to win. We didn't, so it's disappointing to lose, and disappointing to lose on big occasions as well,"" he said.
Hird said most of the players would be given until next Thursday to refresh before facing Melbourne in round 11, where he hoped to have several injured players available for selection, including Jobe Watson (hamstring) and Michael Hurley (calf).
""The bye has probably come at exactly the right time,"" he said.
""Maybe if it had come a week earlier it might have helped us, but our injuries should mainly come back. Jobe and Hurley should come back for the Melbourne game, so it'll help us out there.""
Essendon fell down across its half-forward line, but Hird said marking target Patrick Ryder was still a solid contributor to the side, despite only picking up nine possessions and not hitting the scoreboard.
""We look at Paddy's game differently than you guys in terms of marks and goals, handballs and kicks. Paddy is playing OK, he's not playing as well as we'd love him to, but he's actually playing OK,"" he said.
