RICHMOND star Dustin Martin is becoming a stronger Brownlow Medal chance by the week after another superb performance in the Tigers' 42-point win against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday.

Martin is in career-best form and added another best-on-ground performance to his resume against the Lions, spearheading the 17.15 (117) to 11.9 (75) win.

Full match coverage and stats

The powerful onballer was a class above in an otherwise forgettable clash, finishing with a game-high 35 possessions, six clearances and 10 inside 50s against a team that lacked answers all over the ground.

He made the centre square his own, winning five centre clearances, and while his trademark 'don't argue' doesn't appear on the stats sheet, there was more than a handful of those.

Saturday's match was billed as a battle between Martin and Lions' stopper Mitch Robinson, who has taken some notable midfield scalps in recent weeks. 

But that battle was over early in the second quarter when Robinson left the ground with concussion after a clash with Tigers hard nut Jacob Townsend, ending his day and forcing Daniel Rich to take up the job. 

Five talking points: Richmond v Brisbane Lions

At that point, the clash between these two teams was already over.

The Lions started in a flurry in the opening 10 minutes, targeting opposition skipper Trent Cotchin off the ball and kicking the opening two goals.  

Their skills quickly deteriorated, however, and their method followed quickly out the door as the Tigers slammed on the next five goals to build a 21-point lead at quarter-time.

The trend for the match was set for the next two quarters as Richmond did as it pleased, building and building its lead to a match-high 56 points at the final change.

But in an example of why the Tigers have lost touch with this season's top-eight, they took their foot off the pedal and let the Lions control play in the final term, losing the final term by 14 points.

The Tigers butchered a series of goal-scoring opportunities, finessing and taking the more difficult option when simple play would have seen them steam further ahead. 

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As a result they missed an opportunity to build valuable percentage and confidence, with coach Damien Hardwick appearing frustrated on the boundary line.

"I would've like to have played a little bit better at the back end of the game … to finish off as we did was disappointing," Hardwick said.

"We probably missed some scoring opportunities that we didn't quite take advantage of.

"It was probably one of those frustrating games that we probably couldn’t get the dominance that we were after." 

Hardwick's frustration was compounded in the final two minutes when ruckman Shaun Hampson, who has re-established himself in the past two months, limped from the ground with a right knee injury. 

While Martin shone brighter than all on the ground, key forward Jack Riewoldt booted four goals and Nick Vlastuin was a rock in defence and pushing further up the ground with 22 possessions and two goals.  

Connor Menadue played arguably his best game for the Tigers, finishing with 19 possessions and two goals, with defender Nathan Broad making his debut and appearing comfortable in what was a casual day for the defenders.

There were few winners for the Lions, with Eric Hipwood providing a silver lining in his second game, booting four goals.  

Coach Justin Leppitsch said he was encouraged by the Lions' final quarter.  

"We started to take the game on and play some bold footy," the coach said.

"It was obviously too little too late, but that was encouraging and the never-give-up attitude was the pleasing part."

MEDICAL ROOM
Richmond: Ruckman Shaun Hampson will undergo scans for a right knee injury after a nasty clash in the centre with opposition big man Stefan Martin. The Tigers were confident post-match that the injury was not serious.

Brisbane Lions: Mitch Robinson failed his concussion test early in the second quarter and was ruled out by the doctors, but he was keen to play on and was fine post-match.

NEXT UP
Richmond has the chance to square its season at 7-7 when it travels to face Port Adelaide next Friday night. The Lions have a much-needed bye before facing Gold Coast in the QClash, which provided their only win for the season so far back in round four. 

High-fives all round as Brett Deledio celebrates with Shane Edwards. Picture: AFL Media

RICHMOND                5.4       9.8       14.11    17.15     (117)
BRISBANE LIONS     2.0       4.0       6.3        11.9       (75)

GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 4, Edwards 2, Menadue 2, Lloyd 2, Vlastuin 2, Deledio, Cotchin, Vickery, Miles, Ellis
Brisbane Lions: Hipwood 3, Taylor 2, Green, Walker, Schache, Jansen, Martin, Hanley 

BEST
Richmond: Martin, Riewoldt, Vlastuin, Ellis, Menadue, Rance
Brisbane Lions: Hipwood, Mayes, Rockliff, Jansen, Mathieson

INJURIES
Richmond: Hampson (knee)
Brisbane Lions: Robinson (concussion) 

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Fisher, Margetts, Dalgleish, Chamberlain

Official crowd: 28,883 at the MCG