After winning eight of their last 10 matches heading into Friday night's elimination final, the Bulldogs' season is over after Hawthorn stunned them by 37 points at the MCG.
The Hawks started the season 0-5 after finishing 16th last season, but their rebuild under coach Sam Mitchell has been supercharged.
"They're the real deal," Richards said of Hawthorn.
"You never like losing, but if you do it's always better to do it against a team that might go all the way.
"There isn't a reason why they can't (win the premiership).
"Obviously their intercept game was really on point.
"(Hawthorn captain James) Sicily was a problem for us. He was really, really good for them.
" I feel like they've just got a lot of energy in their group."
James Sicily takes a mark during Hawthorn's win over the Western Bulldogs. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)
It was the Bulldogs' fifth elimination final defeat in Luke Beveridge's 11-year tenure, adding to first-week exits in 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2022.
Richards was one of the Dogs' best against Hawthorn, particularly in the first half.
But his strong individual performance of 23 possessions and five clearances came as no consolation.
"It's difficult to process now," Richards said.
"(Beveridge) basically said words aren't going to fix anything right now.
"We've got to go through the whole process, through the whole pre-season now.
"Its a long, winding process."
Despite the disappointment of the loss, Richards is adamant the Bulldogs are well placed to keep contending.
"The whole point of this final series, we just wanted to keep improving," he said.
"We sort of took a backward step (against Hawthorn), which was unfortunate.
"We've got a bunch of young kids coming through and we've also got some experience in there."
