RICHMOND has put a severe dent in Port Adelaide's top-four aspirations, causing a major boilover with its 20-point victory at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The Power, on top of the ladder after round 14, have now dropped four of their past five games and are likely to fall outside the top four by day's end if, as expected, Fremantle defeats Greater Western Sydney.

Met with a willing second-half challenge from the Power, the Tigers held their nerve to hold onto a 19.12 (126) to 16.10 (106) victory.

Unlike its effort against North Melbourne in round 12 when it conceded a 36-point half-time lead, the Tigers showed the kind of resilience it has failed to deliver on for most of this year.


The Tigers were ferocious and determined and, in comparison to the Power, switched on from start to finish.

"I thought our guys' hardness and ability to win the ball inside and then get it outside was really evident on the day," Tigers coach Damien Hardwick said post-match.

"It's something we've worked incredibly hard with over the course of, probably, the last six weeks. It was good to see the dividends of that today."

Young Tiger Anthony Miles was superb for Richmond with 28 disposals and eight clearances, crucially setting the tone for his team around the clinches. 

Brandon Ellis (29 touches) escaped the clutches of the Kane Cornes 'glove' to have a significant impact on the game, while Trent Cotchin (26 disposals and eight clearances) and Dustin Martin (25 disposals and seven inside 50s) were also particularly damaging.

Alex Rance was also near faultless in his defensive stopping job on Coleman Medal leader Jay Schulz, holding the Power spearhead to two goals on the afternoon, neither of which was when directly opposed to his man.

The problem for Port was that too many of its key playmakers were off the boil – Schulz, Chad Wingard (17 disposals and one goal), Jared Polec (18) and Justin Westhoff (14 and no goals) all struggled to influence the contest.

The Power were fumbly. They were turnover prone and they lacked the spark that had characterised their successful season to date.

Miles and Cotchin were not shaky as they established the ascendancy for the Tigers. Ranked last in the competition in contested possessions leading into the game, the Tigers smashed the Power in that key category (159-125).


"We were badly beaten inside (the contest) again. Contested possession was a significant disadvantage for us," he said after the game.

"They were really effective with some of their stuff and we were quite ineffective with some of our stuff.

"We're not playing OK at the moment, we've certainly got a lot of work to do to improve."

The only sour point for Richmond was the head injury to Reece Conca after he was stretchered from the field in the third term after a huge collision with Power ruckman Matthew Lobbe. 

Former Tiger and Power speedster Matthew White tried to keep his team in touch with an incredible end-to-end running goal late in the final term, but the Power could not reel in a determined Tigers outfit.

Travis Boak was the Power's supreme performer from start to finish, collecting 39 disposals and helping himself to seven tackles, but he had few friends.

With the race for the top four on in earnest, the Power will look to get back on track against Melbourne at Adelaide Oval next Sunday.

But as it knows too well, Port can ill afford to drop any more winnable games from here on.




Nick Vlaustuin fends off Chad Wingard. Pictures: AFL Media

RICHMOND     4.2   11.6   14.7  19.12 (126)
PORT ADELAIDE    3.3   8.4     12.6  16.10 (106)      
 
GOALS
Richmond: Lloyd 3, Riewoldt 3, Petterd 2, Chaplin 2, Vickery 2, Vlastuin, Deledio, Cotchin, Jackson, Martin, Edwards, Houli
Port Adelaide: R.Gray 4, Broadbent 2, White 2, Schulz 2, Wines, Boak, S Gray, Wingard, Hartlett, Polec
 
BEST 
Richmond: Miles, Cotchin, Deledio, Rance, Chaplin, Martin, Riewoldt
Port Adelaide: Boak, R.Gray, Cornes, Wines

INJURIES 
Richmond: Conca (concussion)
Port Adelaide: R.Gray (head)
 
SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Nathan Foley replaced Reece Conca in the third quarter
Port Adelaide: Kane Mitchell replaced Sam Gray in the third quarter
 
Reports: Nil
 
Umpires: Farmer, Bannister, Mitchell
 
Official crowd: 21,483 at the Etihad Stadium