Richmond’s thrashing of West Coast last night has thrown the AFL finals race wide open. The Tigers produced their most complete performance of the season to post an upset 41-point triumph over the Eagles in a Monday night AFL clash at Patersons Stadium. Richmond pushed their way into the eight, leaving Adelaide, Port Adelaide and the highly fancied West Coast outside the top group. Richmond haven’t featured in the finals since reaching the 2001 preliminary final. But at 6-4 heading into their bye, the Tigers are well placed to break that drought, and perhaps inflict some major damage in September. In contrast, tenth-placed West Coast (5-5) now face a fight to make the top-eight, let alone achieve their initial goal of a top-four berth. The Tigers trailed by six points at quarter-time, but piled on the next nine goals on the back of an inspired midfield blitz to set up the 16.7 (103) to 8.14 (62) victory in front of 37,781 shell-shocked fans. Over the past two years, the Eagles transformed their home ground of Patersons Stadium into a fortress. But with just two wins from six games in Perth this year, rival teams no longer fear the trek west. Richmond’s confidence grew as the match wore on, but it was their superior attack on the ball and willingness to run for their teammates that proved the difference. West Coast looked slick in last round’s 100-point mauling of GWS. But with their intent clearly lacking against the Tigers, and their skills off the boil, they were put to the sword by the Tigers. Richmond looked dangerous every time they went forward. Although they had one less inside-50m entry at three-quarter time, they still led by 50 points. The Tigers looked to be in trouble early when West Coast forward Josh Kennedy easily shook off Alex Rance to kick two first-quarter goals. It seemed just a matter of time before the floodgates opened for the home side. But Richmond’s ability to score vital goals on the counter halted West Coast’s momentum. And when the Tigers’ midfield got on top during the second term, there was no stopping the yellow and black. Although the regular names of Chris Newman, Brett Deledio and Trent Cotchin stood tall, it was the work of first-year midfielder Nick Vlastuin that would have warmed the hearts of Richmond fans the most. His first goal was particularly special, with the 19-year-old taking the ball out of the middle, exchanging a handball with a teammate, before finishing off the piece of play with a running 40m goal. Vlastuin finished with two goals for the quarter and three for the match, while Richmond’s defensive trio of Rance, Troy Chaplin, Steve Morris and Jake Batchelor were influential in containing the likes of Kennedy, Jack Darling and Mark LeCras. Both Tigers speedster Shane Edwards and Eagles defender Mitch Brown were subbed off in the third quarter after copping pokes to the eye in separate incidents. Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said his side were listless in their recent loss to Essendon, but praised the effort of his players against the Eagles. “The great thing for us is it gives our guys the belief that if they play to their potential, they’re a capable side,” Hardwick said. “We probably only played to a six out of 10 level prior to this game. We were winning ugly. This is probably the first time we took it to another level and played consistent footy, apart from 10 minutes in that first quarter.” West Coast dominated the hit-outs 81-27, yet lost the clearances 45-41. Eagles coach John Worsfold was at a loss to explain why his team couldn’t capitalise on their clear hit-out advantage. “The issue was why didn’t we look sharp tonight. And I don’t really know the answer to that,” Worsfold said. There was nothing to suggest that we weren’t going to be as sharp as we would have liked.”
Match details RICHMOND 2.3 8.4 14.5 16.7 (103) WEST COAST 3.3 3.6 5.9 8.14 (62) Goals: Richmond: N Vlastuin 3 C Newman 2 J Riewoldt 2 S Edwards 2 T Vickery 2 A Edwards D Jackson D Martin J King M White. West Coast: J Kennedy 3 J Hill 2 D Kerr J Darling S Selwood. Injuries: Richmond: J King (leg) S Edwards (eye). West Coast: M Brown (eye). Reports: Nil. Umpires: Matt Stevic, Dean Margetts, Jordan Bannister. Official Crowd: 37,781 at Subiaco.
LADDER AFTER ROUND 10
P W L D For Agst PC Pts
Hawthorn 10 9 1 – 1205 810 148.8 36
Geelong 10 9 1 – 1134 899 126.1 36
Sydney 10 7 2 1 1017 798 127.4 30
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Fremantle 10 7 2 1 904 724 124.9 30
Essendon 10 7 3 – 1075 819 131.3 28
Carlton 10 6 4 – 1052 857 122.8 24
Richmond 10 6 4 – 971 874 111.1 24
Collingwood 10 6 4 – 931 958 97.2 24
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Adelaide 10 5 5 – 986 833 118.4 20
West Coast 10 5 5 – 1051 907 115.9 20
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Port Adelaide 10 5 5 – 946 885 106.9 20
North Melbourne 10 4 6 – 1097 967 113.4 16
Gold Coast Suns 10 4 6 – 893 948 94.2 16
Western Bulldogs 10 3 7 – 789 1027 76.8 12
Brisbane 10 3 7 – 783 1041 75.2 12
St Kilda 10 2 8 – 820 965 85.0 8
Melbourne 10 1 9 – 685 1333 51.4 4
GWS Giants 10 – 10 – 728 1422 51.2 –
LEADING GOALKICKERS
34: J Kennedy (West Coast) 3
33: L Thomas (Kangaroos) 3
31: J Riewoldt (Richmond) 2
29: N Riewoldt (St Kilda) 3
27: J Cameron (GWS Giants ) 2, J Garlett (Carlton) 4, T Hawkins (Geelong) 2, L Franklin (Hawthorn) 2, J Roughead (Hawthorn) 3
26: T Cloke (C’wood) 0
