The Cats had a victory during the quarter-time interval when Jordan Clark won the grand final sprint,and the wins kept coming for Chris Scott’s side after the break. With Tom Stewart controlling play in defence,Geelong dominated much of the second quarter,monstering Richmond territorially and impressing with ferocious attack on the ball. Richmond,sans Vlastuin,looked overawed. Trent Cotchin held Dangerfield in a marking contest,with Dangerfield converting from the ensuing free kick. Noah Balta turned the ball over to Joel Selwood,Sam Menegola in turn kicking his first goal. Then Ablett,the son of “God” resurrected,provided a deft flick to Selwood,who in turn set up a Hawkins set shot from which the Coleman medallist made no mistake.
The margin got out to 22 points,and it could have been even more dire for Richmond,with Gryan Miers spraying a gilt-edged chance and Zach Tuohy missing another. Richmond needed something quickly. Tom Lynch dropped a sitter in the pocket but Martin - in typical style - fended off Jake Kolodjashnij to snap truly.
After an extended half-time interval,Richmond picked up where they left off. Now it was the Tigers who were getting repeat forward 50 entries. Jack Riewoldt put through his first and errors started creeping into Geelong’s game. Jason Castagna floated through his first,one Rhys Stanley should have perhaps touched on the line. A nice passage of play from the Cats ended with Miers steadying on the run,but Kane Lambert added another for Richmond. Then Martin slid one through masterfully,putting the Tigers in front for the first time since the opening term. Geelong regained their composure but Ablett was labouring and Richmond were surging. The Tigers headed to the last change two points ahead and made the perfect start to the final term too as Prestia threaded the needle from the pocket.
Then Bolton spotted up Lynch,who finally made his mark after a quiet night. Martin sent one through another one along the ground,and Geelong's back looked to have been broken. Sam Simpson was poleaxed in a collision with teammate Menegola,leading to another long delay as the youngster was carted off. Menegola kicked his second but it was too little,too late,with Riewoldt's second the icing on Richmond's cake and Martin's fourth adding an extra layer.
BEST:
Richmond: Martin,Short,Bolton,Nankervis,Graham,Baker,Edwards.Geelong: Duncan,Menegola,Stewart,Selwood,Taylor
Votes
D. Martin (Richmond) 8
J. Short (Richmond) 7
M. Duncan (Geelong) 7
S. Bolton (Richmond) 7
S. Menegola (Geelong) 7
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