RICHMOND 0.6.2 1.8.5 1.11.9 1.14.10 (103)
PORT ADELAIDE 0.0.0 0.1.1 0.2.2 5.7 (37)
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Best: Richmond: Martin, Edwards, Houli, Ellis, Grigg, Lloyd, Chaplin, Maric, Riewoldt. Port Adelaide: Mitchell, Polec, Broadbent, Stewart, Young, Moore
Supergoals: Richmond: Lennon Goals: Richmond: Lloyd 4, Edwards 2, Gordon, Vickery, Riewoldt, Hunt, Lennon, Edwards, Gordon, Batchelor. Port Adelaide: Young 2 Clurey, Broadbent, Redden
Crowd: 8451 at Lavington sports ground
Albury: It is each club's prerogative to prepare their players for the premiership season as best they deem fit within the confines of the AFL's practice match schedule. Teams may wish to intersperse senior and junior players throughout each week of the series. Alternatively they may choose to play a full-strength team one week, and essentially a reserves team another.
Those two extremes came to a strange head in Lavington on Saturday. On a brilliant early autumn day, Richmond's stars began what they hope will be a march to September, thrashing a severely depleted Port Adelaide by 66 points. More importantly, many of the Tigers' top echelon put in impressive shifts.
A fortnight ago, Richmond had rested the top nine vote getters from their best-and-fairest count last year. On Saturday, all but captain Trent Cotchin were back. Last Sunday the Power had played a near full-strength team against West Coast. For the trip to the NSW-Victoria border, they were without 14 members of the team that punished the Tigers in last year's elimination final, and provisionally suspended recruit Paddy Ryder.
It meant for Richmond, this game had next to no use as a means of assessing any ground made on the Power since that Father's Day final.
The Tigers' guns were allowed to flourish. Dustin Martin was dynamic and had a stack of the football. Jack Riewoldt, though at times profligate, marked well and tackled ferociously. Brett Deledio showed no sign off his continuing Achilles trouble, while Ivan Maric and Brandon Ellis both impressed.
The early signs for Port were ominous as mature age Tiger rookie Kane Lambert slotted the game's first, and within 10 minutes his side led 4.2.26 to zero.
Riewoldt drew applause when he won a holding-the-ball free kick early in the first quarter. The spearhead received a free kick for holding after 14 minutes, and duly booted the ball into the car park. His longstanding foil, Ty Vickery, popped one through soon after and it was six goals to nil in Richmond's favour. The hilly surrounds were pretty, but this was getting ugly for Port.
Even ruckman Maric was running down blokes from behind, a strong tackle on callow Power tall Mitch Harvey rousing the crowd late in the first.
On elimination final day last year, Port had scored the first 43 points of the game. When Ellis kicked Richmond's first of the second quarter on Saturday, the Tigers had the day's first 46. Mercifully the Power were on the board a couple of minutes later as Maric guided through a rushed behind.
Emerging Richmond teenager Ben Lennon's running shot was shepherded through by Riewoldt at the 11-minute mark of the second quarter for a supergoal.
Soon after Martin fended off an opponent in typical style, and latched onto Riewoldt who marked on the goal line. But not for the only time during the game, the Tasmanian's selflessness proved his undoing. He tried unsuccessfully to find a teammate in a better spot, and Port raced down the other end. Aaron Young kicked their first. It had taken until the 17-minute mark of the second quarter.
However Taylor Hunt provided the answering goal within five minutes, and the Tigers had a 55-point buffer at the long break.
Sam Lloyd - now donning the No. 27 jumper - snapped truly from 25 metres to open Richmond's account after half-time. As the contest petered away, the small forward would snag three for the half, making an imprint which could force him into Damien Hardwick's team for the Tigers' season opener on April 2.
For the Power, stand-in captain Matthew Broadbent, midfielders Kane Mitchell and Jared Polec, and utility Paul Stewart were all solid. Reality TV series winner Johann Wagner provided a colourful sidebar, but toiled without reward against All-Australian Alex Rance, spraying a set shot in the third quarter out of bounds on the full. It proved to be his best chance.