Richmond coach Damien Hardwick blamed a shocking second quarter for his side’s upset two-point loss to Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The Bulldogs notched their first win of the season 15.10 (100) to 15.8 (98) after a thrilling final term in which the Tigers kicked six goals to the Bulldogs’ four and snatched the lead late in the game.
Finals hopefuls Richmond, who trailed by 37 points at halftime but rallied strongly with a 12-goal second half, have slipped to a 1-2 win-loss record.
A disciplinary lapse proved costly for the Tigers when Ty Vickery plunged his knees into Will Minson which resulted in a goal for Stuart Crameri at the 21-minute mark of the final term.
Richmond hit the front with Jack Riewoldt’s fourth goal five minutes later in front of a crowd of over 31,000.
But Daniel Giansiracusa, who was subbed on at three-quarter-time, booted two goals including the match-winner with less than two minutes remaining.
The Bulldogs won a free kick after Brandon Ellis tackled Giansiracusa who wasn’t in possession of the ball.
“Smart player Gia. I could see it happening,” Hardwick said of the way the 253-game veteran caused his opponent to panic.
“You hope they call play on.
“(But) probably the thing that killed us was our second quarter was nothing short of shocking.”
Hardwick said the Tigers were mauled in the contested possessions.
“It was staggering and the clearances were down nine as well so we had one really, really poor quarter of footy and made a couple of errors with our ball movement that actually gifted them some goals,” Hardwick said.
“Yeah it is a big game,” Hardwick said.
“We’ve just got to eradicate those (lapses) and get ourselves out of the spot we’ve put ourselves in.”
The AFL’s match review panel is expected to analyse a tackle from Richmond’s Matt Thomas on Ryan Griffen during the third term, when Griffen was slammed into the turf with his arms pinned.
Skipper Trent Cotchin played almost a lone hand for the Tigers with 28 possessions and 11 clearances.
Teenager Jack Macrae was a star for the Bulldogs with a game-high 30 disposals while Tom Liberatore had 24 touches and 12 clearances and Liam Jones (three goals) and Stewart Crameri (two goals) were handy contributors.
Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney praised the courage of key defender Jordan Roughead.
“He stayed on the ground with a broken shoulder for three quarters,” McCartney said.
If McCartney was excited about the victory over a team touted as top-four contenders, he wasn’t showing it.
“It’s more a bit of relief in the end for our club to get a win,” he said.
Richmond face Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night while the Bulldogs will battle Greater Western Sydney in Canberra the following day.
