Townsend kicks six as Tigers thrash Freo

Richmond are just one win away from securing a top-four berth after thrashing Fremantle by 104 points in Sunday’s record-breaking AFL clash at Domain Stadium.

The Tigers looked shaky early on, with Fremantle dominating the inside-50m count 18-6 in the opening term as the home side opened up a four-point lead.

But Richmond blew the game wide open with an eight-goals-to-nil second term to set up the 25.5 (155) to 7.9 (51) victory in front of a crowd of 34,204.

Former GWS midfielder Jacob Townsend finished with a career-high six goals, while Jack Riewoldt (four goals), Kane Lambert (three), Dustin Martin (36 disposals, two goals) and Shaun Grigg (36 possessions) also had big games.

Richmond (14-7) are in fourth spot, and they will guarantee themselves a double chance in the finals if they account for St Kilda at the MCG next Sunday.

If they lose, they could drop to as low as sixth.

Sunday’s win was Richmond’s biggest ever over Fremantle, eclipsing their 90-point victory over the Dockers at the MCG in 1998.

The result was also the equal biggest defeat in Ross Lyon’s coaching career, following on from last week’s 104-point loss to Sydney.

The capitulation was extra disappointing for Fremantle given it was their final ever match at Subiaco Oval ahead of next year’s move to the new Perth Stadium.

The one bright spot to come out of the game for Fremantle was the successful AFL return of Harley Bennell, who booted two-first quarter goals before being starved of opportunities.

Fremantle could be without Sean Darcy for their final-round clash with Essendon at Etihad Stadium after the ruckman was reported for striking Nick Vlastuin.

Darcy had just jumped in the air and was on his way down when he struck Vlastuin with a forearm as the pair collided.

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