Richmond midfielder Nathan Foley says no AFL defeat is "honourable" and the players have taken more disappointment than heart out of their narrow loss to Geelong.

The Tigers led the premiership favourites heading into the final quarter at Skilled Stadium on Saturday, before ending up 20-point losers.

While the performance was an obvious improvement on their insipid first-round showing against Carlton, Foley said it could not be considered satisfactory.

"It was a vast improvement on round one, which it had to be," Foley said.

"At the same time we still haven't won a game, there's no such thing as an honourable loss.

"We were really disappointed, we had our opportunity to win the game, we were right in it in the last quarter and let it slip, so we had to look at that.

"But at the same time there was a few stages during the third quarter when we played some really good football, so you've also got to take some confidence out of that."

Richmond next face a task almost as daunting, playing the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Monday.

The Tigers have not beaten the Dogs since 2005, although they did manage a draw at the same venue last season.

But Foley said they would not be taking much out of that result, given the impressive way the Bulldogs have started this season.

"(Monday's game) is a long way away so we haven't really looked at it yet, but I don't think so," he said.

"I think we'll look at the fact that the Bulldogs are in really good form at the moment, they're playing some tough hard footy.

"They've won two games and it will be a great challenge."

Meanwhile, Foley said the players were encouraged by the strong VFL form of 2003 best and fairest Mark Coughlan, who picked up 41 disposals and 10 tackles in a weekend practice match with Richmond's affiliate side Coburg.

Coughlan has not played a senior game for the Tigers since mid-2006, having undergone two knee reconstructions and recurring hamstring troubles in the intervening years, then minor knee surgery in February.

He is expected to need further VFL games to earn a senior recall, but Foley said the signs were good.

"He had a great game on the weekend, he had 40-odd touches and played some good footy, which is great," he said.

"I'm not sure when he's due to return or anything like that, but his body's going really well, which is really encouraging."

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