A rare quiet night by Dustin Martin could not stop Richmond enjoying their best AFL season start in 22 years with a thumping 52-point win over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Sunday.
The Tigers have cruised to a 4-0 season record for the first time since 1995 thanks to the 17.7 (119) to 10.7 (67) romp in front of 21,669 fans.
Back in 1995, 13 of the Tigers’ current player list had not been born.
Rookie Jason Castagna and Jack Riewoldt both kicked four goals for Richmond while Shaun Grigg had 31 touches.
For Brisbane, former captain Tom Rockliff had a game high 33 disposals.
However, Martin was restricted to just 16 touches and three behinds for the visitors by a relentless Mitch Robinson.
Martin had averaged almost 33 touches a game and had kicked eight goals before the Gabba clash.
With Martin failing to fire, Brisbane threatened to hit back in the third term.
But instead of pulling a rabbit out of the hat they were once again Richmond’s Easter bunnies.
Richmond have now won their last 10 games against the Lions, a remarkable streak stretching back to 2009.
And the Tigers have claimed eight straight at the Gabba – Brisbane’s last home win over Richmond was way back in 2004.
Richmond will hope history repeats after their best start since 1995 – they made the preliminary final that season.
It was a happy homecoming for Richmond assistant Justin Leppitsch, who was axed as Brisbane head coach at the end of last season.
Brisbane’s Tom Cutler suffered a hamstring injury late in the first term.
Richmond kicked four of the first five goals to get the jump on Brisbane 5.6 (36) to 3.2 (20) by the first break.
Richmond’s Connor Menadue relied on a review to be awarded the second quarter’s opening major after the goal umpire was unwittingly taken out by Brisbane’s Dan McStay.
The Tigers midfield made sure the rest of the visitors’ goals were more clear cut, limiting Brisbane to just seven second term points as they blew the halftime deficit out to 42 points by halftime.
Brisbane launched this season’s trademark third quarter fightback, at one stage kicking three straight goals to cut the deficit to 31.
However, nothing could stop Richmond extending their incredible run against the Lions.