Richmond captain Chris Newman was happy to take an ugly AFL win after the club’s horror week.
The wasteful Tigers’ 13.23 (101) to 11.12 (78) victory over a depleted and sloppy Melbourne in perfect conditions at the MCG on Saturday was often painful to watch.
But after cutting Daniel Connors, suspending Dustin Martin, losing Dylan Grimes and Jake King to injury and Daniel Jackson to suspension during the week, the Tigers were delighted with the result.
“To the boys’ credit they were really good, they handled it really well,” Newman said of the turmoil.
“Obviously it’s a really tough thing to see their teammates and their mates go through what they have during the week.”
The win lifted Richmond to a 7-7 record, only a tiny percentage gap from the top eight.
Coach Damien Hardwick said having made few changes previously this season, with seven this week it was no surprise his team lacked their previous cohesion.
“The other thing is we just couldn’t finish our work,” Hardwick said.
“We had (13) more scoring shots than the opposition, but we’ve just got to get better at finishing our work inside 50.”
The Tigers’ dominance in general play was enormous for the first 25 minutes, giving them the first nine scoring shots.
But in what set the day’s pattern, they missed numerous easy shots to keep the Demons in touch.
Spearhead Jack Riewoldt kicked 1.5 for the day and put another out on the full, with Robin Nahas (four goals) the only forward to make much of his teammates’ work.
Former defender Luke McGuane, playing his first AFL game this year, at least battled hard for 2.2.
But it was the midfielders who drove Richmond’s win, Shaun Grigg (34 disposals), Shane Tuck (nine clearances, nine tackles) and Trent Cotchin (28 disposals) leading the way.
Demons coach Mark Neeld admitted his side’s field kicking was terrible.
“There were just some basic fundamentals, Auskick stuff,” Neeld said.
“When you mark the ball it’s a really good idea to get back quickly from the man on the mark and then be moving forwards when you kick it.
“It’s not earth-shattering stuff.”
But he was happy the Demons at least stayed competitive after the Tigers threatened to blow them away early.
Richmond might be forced into more changes for next round’s clash with Gold Coast, with Matt White to face scrutiny over a high bump which concussed Melbourne’s James Frawley, while defender Ben Griffiths was subbed off with calf tightness.
