RICHMOND 6.1  8.2  14.5  22.6 (138) GOLD COAST 2.0  5.3  7.3  8.7 (55)
Goals: Richmond: T Vickery 4 B Deledio 3 D Martin 3 S Lloyd 3 J Riewoldt 2 K Lambert 2 B Ellis C Newman I Maric M Thomas S Grigg. Gold Coast: T Lynch 3 A Boston A Hall C Dixon J Garlett L Russell.
Best: Richmond: Lambert, Martin, Rance, Cotchin, Ellis, Vickery. Gold Coast: May, Hall, Lynch, Kolodjashnij, Richchitelli.
Umpires: Matt Stevic, Jacob Mollison, Nick Brown.
Official Crowd: 38,508 at MCG.

Having buried their Gold Coast hoodoo as expected, Richmond are now officially September-bound after Sunday's game at the MCG.

For a few Tigers on the fringe of selection, this was a chance to lay claim to a spot for what is shaping as an exciting finals series for their success-starved fan base.

It was a chance Kane Lambert wasn't going to let slip.

The 23-year-old, who had been overlooked for five national drafts before arriving at Punt Road (in 2010 he gave up on football and didn't nominate), has worked harder than most to earn his chance in the spotlight and, on Sunday against the Suns, showed he's prepared to work even harder to keep it.

The tough midfielder finished with 27 disposals, six inside 50s, five clearances and two goals in a display coach Damien Hardwick rated as his best since joining the club.

In fact, if you stopped the game at three-quarter-time – and from a spectacle standpoint you so easily could have – Lambert was probably the most influential player on the ground.

"I thought he was very clean, his ability to find the ball and then use it was a real positive for us," Hardwick said of Lambert after the match.

"We all know his story. He's taken a little bit of time to get here but he doesn't look out of place."

Having suffered a nasty shoulder injury during his debut against the Western Bulldogs – and considering all the other knock-backs along the way – one could have forgiven Lambert for thinking maybe he was not going to make an impact in the AFL..

But his never-give-up attitude has paid off, driving him to regain a spot back in round 13 and it was obvious in everything he did against the Suns, such as his brave back-with-the-flight mark and goal in the last quarter when the game was long over.

"It's a real credit to him," Hardwick said.

"He works incredibly hard and the upside for us is that he's still got some areas of improvement that could take him to a new level as a player."

In a different way, and not on the same scale, it was a similar type of day for team-mates Ty Vickery and Sam Lloyd.

Having been the substitute and then substituted in his past two matches, Lloyd would have known the importance of sticking his hand up for September on a day when Jack Riewoldt was well held by Steven May, and his three goals and 16 disposals surely did that.

The same goes for Vickery, who went for a game-high four goals all from marks inside 50, and had a clever hand in two others – one from a hit-out deep inside 50, and another from a unselfish tap on in the goal square to Riewoldt.

There was a time this season were some thought the Tigers were going in a different direction to Vickery, but the former No.8 pick has come on strong since forcing his way back into the team in round 18, and this effort must give him confidence.

The Tigers showed no mercy on the Suns once it became apparent they had the result locked, running out with 14 goals in the first half to punctuate a dominate 22-goal offensive display that featured many of the "A Team" — Dustin Martin (29 disposals, three goals), Brandon Ellis (29 disposals, five inside 50s), Trent Cotchin (28 disposals, nine clearances) and Brett Deledio (three goals) — running riot at the end.

This was not unsurprising on two fronts, firstly because percentage could become crucial in a few weeks time and secondly, because they owe the Suns some misery – the thoughts of three surprise losses to the franchise team in their formative years still fresh in mind.

We knew the Suns were out-classed coming in, but by five minutes into the third-quarter, they were also out-manned.

Any hope the Suns might have had after key forward Tom Lynch kicked a goal after the half-time siren to bring Gold Coast to within just 17 points quickly evaporated when ruckman Tom Nicholls was subbed out with a knee injury.

That meant Lynch, who was brave all day with three goals and 11 marks, had to spend more time in the ruck, robbing Rodney Eade of one his best forwards for key stages of the second half.

Their other key forward, Charlie Dixon, was already hobbled with a bad ankle and that only exacerbated the fact he was getting soundly beaten by Alex Rance, who had another of his signature games (24 disposals, nine marks) patrolling half-back - blanketing forward entries and then bouncing the other way.

Shortly after Nicholls went out, Jack Martin came off second best in a nasty head clash with Cotchin, leaving the Suns another man down as he was stretchered off.

By the end of it, there was not much Eade, nor his players, could do to stop the onslaught. The Suns probably can't wait for 2015 to be over. For the Tigers – and perhaps a few like Lambert, Vickery and Lloyd — this could just be the start.