"We got beaten by a team that's quite clearly better than us," he said.
"They're a good team. They broke our tackles, tackled us, kicked the ball better, got the ball into space, and set up some nice goals.
"They were better than us. They are better than us. But we're young, we're learning, we're making some mistakes. We're getting there inch by inch."
Richmond was too good for the Bulldogs, growing its lead every quarter of the game to notch its eighth win of the season. But a significant amount of the damage was done in the third term, when the Bulldogs let their guard down.
Having been competitive in the first half – and only trailing by 22 points at the main break – the Tigers booted five goals to none in the third term and led by 53 points at the last change.
McCartney said he challenged his players, individually and as a collective, to fight the game out and not fall to a big defeat.
The Bulldogs kicked three goals in the last quarter to Richmond's four.
"We did hang in and some individuals who were challenged at three-quarter time responded," McCartney said.
"There were different people sprinkled throughout the team that we wanted more intensity and effort from and obviously we challenged the team as a whole, too. It (the third) was a pretty average quarter of footy."
As the Bulldogs continue to blood debutants – McCartney described first-gamer Lachie Hunter as "terrific" – new difficulties are also arising for the club's young players who have been in the system a few years.
Midfielder Tom Liberatore was matched up with Shaun Grigg and Grigg was close to best afield for the Tigers with his run, drive and two goals, while Luke Dahlhaus was kept out of the game.
McCartney said Dahlhaus wasn't impacting games to the extent his side needs, but the 20-year-old was coming to terms with more attention.
"He is wearing better players now and he's drawing good defenders. The next step forward for him is to get back to that really hard-working, ferocious little competitor that is harder to play against," he said.
"He'll accept that challenge. It's been put to him and he's still a very young player."
The Bulldogs have a strong record against clubs similarly placed on the ladder this year, with wins over the Brisbane Lions, St Kilda and Port Adelaide.
That could continue over the next two weeks, when they meet Melbourne at the MCG next Saturday night and Greater Western Sydney the following week at Skoda Stadium.
Follow AFL website reporter Callum Twomey on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.
