RICHMOND has stayed in touch with the top eight after demoralising the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco, with an 11-goal second term sparking the Tigers to a comprehensive 77-point win.
The 24.8 (152) to 11.9 (75) victory sees the Tigers improve to 6-8-1 on the season, while the lamentable Eagles dropped to 2-13 after losing their sixth straight contest. Less than two years after winning a premiership, West Coast are now just 0.57 per cent away from cellar-dweller Melbourne in 15th place on the ladder.
The Tigers, who won in round four at Subiaco Oval by 64 points against West Coast's cross-town rival Fremantle, were led by Jack Riewoldt's five goals, while Nathan Brown had four goals and 24 possessions. Trent Cotchin was outstanding with 25 touches, while Jordan McMahon led the team with 33.
For the Eagles, Dean Cox had 23 possessions and 43 hit-outs, while Andrew Embley led the side with 24 touches. Ben McKinley kicked three goals, as did David Wirrpanda.
West Coast was competitive in a sloppy first term before Richmond put the hammer down in the second, kicking 11 goals to one in half an hour of dominant football. The Tigers were as spectacular as the home side was dreadful, kicking the first seven goals of the term inside 17 minutes to turn a close contest into a rout.
Not satisfied with a 48-point half time margin, Richmond extended its lead to over 10 goals after eight minutes in the third term. Former Eagle Mitch Morton kicked his third for the match after receiving a 50-metre penalty when frustrated Eagles on-baller Daniel Kerr crashed late and high into Tigers' stopper Matt White in a marking contest.
The margin hovered around 10 goals for the reminder of the term, with goals to the irrepressible Nathan Foley, impressive youngster Cotchin and late inclusion Shane Edwards cancelled out by majors to McKinley, Wirrpanda and Embley.
The Tigers took a 63-point lead into the final change, 18.6 (114) to 7.9 (51).
With the sting completely out of the game, the only interest in the last term was the final margin, which peaked at 77 points with Riewoldt's fifth goal of the game with 23 seconds to play. Richmond kicked six goals to four in the final quarter.
The visitors led 12.4 (76) to 4.4 (28) at the main change after the home side showed signs of improvement in the first term before being overwhelmed by a yellow and black onslaught.
Richmond quickly extinguished West Coast's quarter-time lead with three goals in the opening six minutes of the second term. When Riewoldt kicked another for the Tigers at the seven-minute mark, his second of the quarter, the visitors had shot to a 13-point lead with their four-goal run.
With the Eagles struggling to get the ball inside their forward 50, let alone being able to get a decent shot on goal, Brown added his second for the match at the 12-minute mark of the quarter, and Morton made it six in a row for the visitors when he threaded a gorgeous snap from the pocket a minute later.
Incredibly, West Coast's only goal of the quarter came after Shane Tuck gave away a 50-metre penalty for backchat in midfield, with McKinley slotting the resultant set shot at the 21-minute mark.
With no indication of what was to follow, West Coast led 3.2 (20) to 1.3 (9) at quarter-time.
The home side entered the round 15 clash as named, while Jake King was replaced by Edwards for the victorious Tigers.
Richmond 1.3 12.4 18.6 24.8 (152)
West Coast 3.2 4.4 7.9 11.9 (75)
GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 5, Brown 4, Morton 3, Cotchin, Deledio 2, Tuck, Johnson, Foley, White, Edwards, Schulz, Tambling, Hughes
West Coast: Wirrpanda, McKinley 3, Embley, Lynch, Hansen, Armstrong, LeCras
BEST
Richmond: Riewoldt, Cotchin, Tuck, Foley, McMahon, Brown, Morton
West Coast: Cox, Wirrpanda, Embley, Houlihan, McKinley
INJURIES
Richmond: King replaced in selected side by Edwards, Deledio (knee)
West Coast: LeCras (hamstring)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Head, Jeffery, Mollison
Crowd: 37,085 at Subiaco Oval
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
