1. Late mistake ruins Rance's good night
Tigers defender Alex Rance was on track to take the points against Lance Franklin for the third straight time, but his hard work was undone in the fourth quarter when he gave away a free kick and handed 'Buddy' the goal that gave the Swans the breathing room they needed. Rance, who had held Franklin to one goal in each of his past two matches against the Tigers, performed well for three quarters, with Franklin's two goals to that point coming from set shots beyond 50m. There were a number of one-on-one contests that Rance clearly won, but Franklin was eventually the match-winner with two final-quarter goals to finish with four on a low-scoring night.
2. Debutant impresses, but Swans sore
The Swans were forced to use their substitute early, with important defender Rhyce Shaw struck down with a left ankle injury in the second quarter. He was assessed at half time but couldn't return, with Zak Jones shedding his green vest and entering the game early in the third quarter. His brother, Melbourne co-captain Nathan Jones, was in the stands to watch his debut, and he would have been proud of some of Zak's contested efforts late in the game. Despite winning their ninth consecutive match, the Swans are hurting with Shaw potentially joining key players Dan Hannebery, Ben McGlynn and Kurt Tippett on the sidelines.
3. Richmond clicks early
So far this season the Tigers have racked up plenty of possessions, but they haven't done a great deal with them. On Friday night, that changed. Opposition coaches observed through the pre-season what Jack Riewoldt later confirmed; Richmond was building a game plan similar to that of premier Hawthorn with a reliance on precision kicking and retaining possession. On Friday night, they had 54 of the first 70 possessions and they moved the ball quickly, with Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin particularly influential early. It was a brand of football that needs to be the new standard for Damien Hardwick's men.
4. Tigers voting with their feet
The disappointing crowd of 34,633 was another vote of no-confidence from the Tiger faithful in their team, which battled manfully. Last week's turnout of 22,074 for the clash with Fremantle was the first indication that Richmond supporters were protesting with their feet, with that crowd down more than 18,000 on the same match-up in 2013. The Tigers were handed Friday night matches because of the excitement they generated in 2013, and the meeting with the Swans was as least close on the scoreboard. In the stands, the committed few couldn't create the atmosphere the tight contest deserved.
5. Rolling maul frustrates fans
There were passages of Friday night's clash where the umpires seemed intent on not blowing their whistles, instead leaving the players to grapple and stumble along in pursuit of a ball that would never be freed. At one point there were bronx cheers for the umpire when he blew his whistle to call a ball-up at the Punt Road end of the MCG. Post match, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said teams brought the congestion upon themselves, but there was a simple solution. "If we ball the ball up straight away when two or three players go to ground, sides will re-set," he said. "What happens is we hold our whistle, players from both ends then come in, then they throw it up straight away. So the players don't get an opportunity to go back. It's very hard to umpire at the moment under the instructions they're given." Sydney Swans coach John Longmire would only offer: "I'm not going to comment on the umpires tonight. It's something you can't control, so I'm not going to comment on it."
