Tigers spearhead Matthew Richardson looked like spoiling the party as he inspired his side to lead by as much as 35 points during the third quarter before the Lions lifted their intensity to come home with a wet sail in the final term to win 13.9 (87) to 11.12 (78).
‘Richo’ was unstoppable in the first half as he devoured everything that came his way, bagging five goals, proving too strong for Lions defender Daniel Bradshaw. Regular full-back Mal Michael missed the contest due to the flu.
However Richardson blotted his copybook by missing several chances including the opportunity in the third quarter to send the Tigers 40 points clear.
Richmond coach Danny Frawley was pleased with the renewed effort from his side after last week’s showing against St.Kilda and was not prepared to blame his spearhead over his untimely misses.
“Our morale has really been good – we were disappointed with our performance last week so we wanted to make sure we gave a good account of ourselves early,” Frawley said after the match.
“We can only control what we can control – not what happens outside the inner sanctum.”
“He (Richardson) has got to play a little closer to goal and he presented well in the right spots. We have just got share the workload up there,
“We just keep working on it (his consistency). This is only his second game where some guys have played four.
“We made quite a few mistakes out there so I don’t think you can blame one individual for our performance.”
The eagerly-awaited return of Lions captain Michael Voss and his counterpart Wayne Campbell never really achieved great heights as both played low-key roles.
Voss started on the backline playing on livewire forward Andrew Krakouer. A small stint on the ball prior to half time was enough to give the skipper enough reason to enjoy his shower at the main break.
That signalled the return of midfielder Brad Scott and forward Blake Caracella who enjoyed their first runs after returning from injury.
Campbell was given a rest for the second half but was the instigator of many Tiger forays during the first two terms. He was closely shadowed by Lions tagger Robert Copeland and Frawley expects to give his skipper more game time next week.
Besides the ill Michael, the Lions rested premiership stars Nigel Lappin, Shaun Hart and Darryl White. Youngster Richard Hadley also missed the match with a wrist problem.
Lions coach Leigh Matthews said his side treated the game as a practice match at the start but asked his charges for more effort after half time.
“Richmond competed harder because they had a bit of pride to restore after having a torrid week,” Matthews commented after the game.
“Until we matched that we were always going to be behind.”
While not signalling out anyone in particular the coach was pleased with the progress of his younger brigade.
“The guys that are at the first year at the club, it is always interesting the impression they give when they start playing and a lot of those guys did a lot of good work,” Matthews said.
Next week Richmond takes on Carlton at Optus Oval and the Lions venture to Melbourne to play the Western Bulldogs at Whitten Oval.
BRISBANE LIONS: 2.2, 5.3, 9.6, 13.9 (87)
RICHMOND: 3.2, 9.7, 10.11, 11.12 (78)
GOALS: BRISBANE LIONS: Lynch 4, Notting 2, McRae 2, Adcock, Akermanis, Black, Charman, McGrath
RICHMOND: Richardson 7, Brown, Campbell, Krakouer, Kellaway
BEST: BRISBANE LIONS: Black, Akermanis, Brennan, Notting, Lynch, McGrath
RICHMOND: Richardson, Kellaway, Brown, Pettifer, Roach
INJURIES: BRISBANE LIONS: Nil
RICHMOND: Nil
UMPIRES: Nicholls, Davis, Stevic
CROWD: approx 5000 at Coorparoo.
