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Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says his Tigers still have the hunger for more AFL premiership success despite their season quickly falling apart.

Richmond's horror loss to lowly Gold Coast has been compounded by confirmation veteran defender Bachar Houli could miss the rest of the AFL season.

The 33-year-old will likely have surgery on a mild syndesmosis injury, placing doubt on the three-time premiership winner's storied 231-game career.

Winners of three of the past four flags, the Tigers were taken down by the Suns, who have never made finals in their 11 seasons, in one of the biggest AFL upsets in years.

Richmond's shock 10-point defeat at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night followed a similar pattern to last week's thrashing by St Kilda - sloppy ball use and an outworked midfield.

Despite sitting at 7-8, with every chance his side will be outside the top-eight at the end of the round, Hardwick is not giving up on the season.

The Tigers have peaked in the back half of all three of their recent premiership campaigns but they could not be further away from that type of form.

"I think so," the three-time premiership coach said when asked if the hunger was still there.

"Our group are very proud.

"We're the first to admit we're not playing anywhere the level of capacity we think we can and we've got to get better in a lot of facets in our game.

"In fairness, Gold Coast were outstanding. Their hunger in and around the contest was good.

"They looked a side, probably similar to us, they replicated a brand that certainly looked like us and played accordingly.

"Our boys are just lacking confidence at the moment, which is surprising. When they play their very best we're a great footy side.

"Unfortunately at the moment, our players are just struggling."

Young forward Callum Coleman-Jones injured his calf during the contest.

Premiership stars Nick Vlastuin (corked quad) and Shane Edwards played out the game but were sore and are no certainties to face Collingwood next week.

Other key players Noah Balta and Nathan Broad will be sidelined long-term, but midfielder Dion Prestia and ruckman Toby Nankervis could return soon.

The only shining light in Richmond's first loss to the Suns since 2014 was the "elite" comeback game from star forward Tom Lynch, who booted five goals in his first appearance since round 10.

"(Lynch) was terrific. He's missed a significant chunk of footy so he's only going to get better, I would think," Hardwick said.

After playing the Magpies in round 17, Richmond face top-four teams the Brisbane Lions and Geelong.