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Richmond overwhelm wayward Lions in AFL

3 minute read

Richmond have punished an inaccurate Brisbane, claiming a 41-point AFL win at Metricon Stadium to post a 15th straight win over the Lions.

JACK RIEWOLDT
JACK RIEWOLDT Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Richmond have extended their 11-year AFL winning run over Brisbane with a 41-point victory at Metricon Stadium.

The Tigers punished a wasteful Brisbane to claim a 12.10 (82) to 4.17 (41) victory on Tuesday night and move up to third on the premiership ladder.

The Lions' third loss of the season is also their 15th consecutive defeat to the premiers in a run stretching back to 2009.

Jack Riewoldt shook off his recent lack of goals to kick four majors while Tom Lynch kicked three and Jake Aarts had two.

For the second match in a row, superstar Dustin Martin was hugely influential with 24 disposals, 10 contested possessions, 10 score involvements and three goal assists.

The match was all but won by the Tigers after an inaccurate second quarter from the Lions.

Brisbane had 14 inside 50s in the second term but could only kick 1.5.

In stark contrast the Tigers were ruthless with their forward entries, kicking 5.2 from just nine inside 50s in the quarter.

The Lions' inability to finish their chances was never better exposed than when Sam Skinner somehow missed when put clean through at the top of the goal square.

Meanwhile, the Tigers were maximising every opportunity, with the influential Shai Bolton kicking one goal on the run from 65m.

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick was delighted to see his two tall forwards among the goals after recent scrutiny of their form.

"They've been training incredibly well and we only knew it was a matter of time," Hardwick said.

"Harris Andrew is probably the best defender in the land and I thought our guys had a really good duel with him and they probably came out on top.

"Our boys rose to the challenge. They've been putting in a hell of a lot of hard work and finally got the outcome we're looking for."

It was a performance which would have brought back bad memories for Lions fans of last year's qualifying final when Brisbane kicked 8.17 to Richmond's 18.4.

By the time Lions captain Dayne Zorko kicked his team's fourth goal of the match in the 10th minute of the final quarter, the Tigers had kicked 11 of the past 12 majors.

Lions coach Chris Fagan was at a loss to explain his team's wayward finishing.

"The last two times we've played Richmond, the final last year and tonight, they've kicked 30.14 and we've kicked 12.34," Fagan said.

"We practice a hell of a lot, and we've been practising a lot more lately than we have done in recent times, mostly because it's been an issue for us so we're not avoiding it.

"Tonight, I'm not saying that it made the difference between winning and losing the game but it made the difference between the game being a tight game and not a tight game, that could have gone either way."

Brisbane's own superstar Lachie Neale topped the possessions chart with 26 touches for the Lions but, lacking the experience of players such as Daniel Rich, Dan McStay and Stef Martin, the Tigers were too good for Fagan's men when it mattered.

Brisbane also lost Cam Rayner to a hamstring injury before halftime, meaning the small forward will almost certainly miss Saturday's match against the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba.

Fagan said Daniel Rich, Daniel McStay, Grant Birchall and Ryan Lester will all come back into contention for the Bulldogs match.

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