Richmond has surged into the top eight and knocked out their arch rivals at the same time after defeating Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
It’ll be hard to wipe the grins off Richmond supporters’ faces after the 27-point victory, the Tigers rarely challenged as Dustin Martin made his return from injury and Tom Lynch backed up his supreme game from last week against West Coast.
The 27-point victory was largely off the back of their key forward's dominance, Lynch racking up a massive 25 possessions while booting six goals in a best-on-ground performance.
He’s now jumped Geelong forward Tom Hawkins in the race for the Coleman Medal after booting 13 majors across his last two games.
His opponent for most of the day was Darcy Moore, who’d only recently put pen to paper on a six-year deal for the Pies. He had been dominant to start the season, however the 26-year-old lowered his colours to Lynch at the G’ and looked at sea for the majority of the first half of the game.
Darcy Moore is contracted until the end of 2028 #AFLTigersPies
— Kane Cornes (@kanecornes) May 7, 2022
Lynch was well supported in attack by Jack Riewoldt and Shai Bolton (two goals each), with Richmond's forward line looking as connected as it's been all year.
Meanwhile, Martin was met with emphatic applause every time he went near the footy in his first game back from personal leave. Having not played since Round 1, Damien Hardwick had warned Martin would be “rusty”, however the Brownlow Medallist found ways to showcase his class with 23 disposals and two goals.
It's good to have you back, Dusty 💛🖤#FootyOhWhatAFeeling | #AFLTigersPies pic.twitter.com/OSMtCUPRWB
— AFL (@AFL) May 7, 2022
The Tigers took the front in the first quarter and never looked back, kicking at least four goals in every quarter after the first and out-running the Magpies as the game went on.
The win evens the ledger for the Tigers at 4-4, their record good enough to move into the top eight given their strong percentage as Collingwood makes way.
The Magpies hung around for much of the clash but never looked like a strong winning chance. A mini-surge of three quick goals late in the final term gave some optimism to a potential snatching of victory, however it wasn’t to be for a Collingwood outfit that couldn’t keep up with the Tigers for most of the day.
Richmond will have the chance to solidify their top eight position when taking on hawthorn and Essendon in the next two weeks, while Collingwood plays the Western Bulldogs on the big stage of Friday night footy in Round 9.
FULL SCORERichmond: 3.3, 9.7, 13.10, 16.11. (107)
Collingwood: 2.3, 5.7, 8.11, 9.12 (66)
GOALS
Richmond: Lynch 6, Martin 2, Bolton 2, Riewoldt 2, Cotchin, Lambert, Soldo, Pickett, Castagna.
Collingwood: Ginnivan 3, Hoskin-Elliot 2, Mihocek 2, Henry 2, Crisp, Adams, McCreery
BEST
Richmond: Lynch, Nankervis, Bolton, Short, Graham
Collingwood: Crisp, Cameron, Adams, Lipinski, Pendlebury
INJURIES
Richmond: N/A
Collingwood: Quaynor (finger)