Richmond stormed away from the Western Bulldogs for a comfortable 70-point AFL win at the MCG on Sunday.
The Tigers had not beaten the Bulldogs in seven years, the emphatic victory a sign of the overall improvement at the club in 2012.
Key forward Jack Riewoldt kicked five goals as the Tigers won an often scrappy battle, 22.18 (150) to 12.8 (80), keeping their mathematical chance of a finals appearance alive for another week.
Already fielding an inexperienced side, the Bulldogs were dealt a further blow when their best player Ryan Griffen suffered back spasms during the warm-up and withdrew from the game.
The more settled Tigers jumped out of the blocks quickly, kicking the first six goals for what looked like a match-winning advantage.
The scoreboard showed the difference in the quality of ball use from both teams and Richmond’s more active forward line.
The Dogs could not hit a target by foot in the opening term, while the likes of Tigers Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin were finding space to create opportunities for their forwards.
At quarter-time, the scoreboard was lopsided but the Bulldogs were grabbing back some momentum.
Defender Brian Lake played as a forward for much of the game and started to give the Dogs some presence in attack.
The Bulldogs kicked six of the next seven goals to cut the deficit to 17 points. It became the pattern of the day – bar a one-sided final term.
The Dogs would kick a burst of goals, with the experience of captain Matthew Boyd and Daniel Giansiracusa coming through, to get within striking distance of the Tigers, only for Richmond to steady and rip the game away from them.
After kicking the first five goals of the third quarter, the Dogs were trailing by just six points before best on ground Cotchin took his – and Richmond’s – game to another level.
Cotchin tackled hard, won the ball and created scoring opportunities for the Tigers.
He kicked two of his three goals for the day late in the term, and steadied Richmond as they booted six of the last seven goals of the quarter to restore their comfortable lead.
The last term was a rout – the Tigers kicking five goals to none to enjoy a percentage-boosting win.