The Kangaroos bolted out of the gate, rattling on 5.2 to 2.3 in the opening term and seemingly intent on turning the game into a one-sided contest.
And they led for most of the day but the Tigers never let the Kangaroos get out of reach at any stage during the game.
The Tiger closed to within 10 points by half-time and, while North had stretched its lead to 13 points at three-quarter time, Richmond played inspired football in the final quarter, no one more so than second-year player Dustin Martin and spearhead Jack Riewoldt.
Martin starred in the midfield and up forward, kicking four goals.
Critically, Martin won a controversial free kick for a push against Andrew Swallow 20m out from goal with five minutes to go in the game, his subsequent goal putting the Tigers up by five-points.
He then got a short kick forward in heavy traffic a minute later to set up a Jake King goal that put the Tigers 11 points up.
Riewoldt kicked two final quarter goals for the Tigers, helping his team boot seven goals for the term to the Kangaroos’ two.
Riewoldt was outstanding for the Tigers all day, completely outpointing Nathan Grima to finish with five goals for the match.
For North, Drew Petrie shook off his slow start to the season, starring up forward with six goals for the game, including two in the final quarter.
The Kangaroos remain winless and now face a must-win game against Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium next Saturday.
Influential players
Petrie served notice early on Sunday afternoon that he was intent on putting his slow start to the season behind him. Leading strongly and marking nearly everything that came his way, he was instrumental to North’s fast start, kicking two goals in the first quarter and four for the first half.
With Richmond charging in the last quarter, Petrie did all he could to drag his side over the line, kicking North’s only two majors of the term to finish with six for the match.
What it means
While North's draw has been tough, it now faces a must-win game against a Port Adelaide side that will be fired up to avenge its acutely disappointing round five loss to Gold Coast. Coach Brad Scott has forecast he is running out of patience with some players.
What the coach said:
Brad Scott (North Melbourne): "We’ve clearly got to have a look at our side and we' ve got to tweak a few things up because the things that are working for us (are) not getting us over the line."
Dream Team highlight
After testing the patience of Dream Team coaches in his first two games, Petrie finally delivered with a game-high 143 points against Richmond. North’s most reliable scorer, Andrew Swallow, was again solid with 109 points, while ruckman Todd Goldstein (102) was the only other Kangaroo to top the ton.
Next four:
North Melbourne: Port Adelaide (Etihad Stadium), Geelong (Skilled Stadium), Melbourne (Etihad Stadium), Brisbane Lions (Gabba)
North Melbourne 5.1 8.6 12.11 14.19 (103)
Richmond 1.3 6.8 10.10 17.10 (112)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Petrie 6, Swallow 2, Hansen, Cunnington, Adams, Wells, Harvey, Tarrant
Richmond: Riewoldt 5, Martin 4, King 3, Cotchin 2, Edwards, White, Miller,
BEST
North Melbourne: Petrie, Swallow, Harvey, Anthony, Adams, Rawlings
Richmond: Martin, Riewoldt, Houli, Cotchin, Nahas, Deledio
INJURIES
North Melbourne: None
Richmond: Jake Batchelor (foot) replaced in the selected side by Shane Tuck
SUBSTITUTES
North Melbourne: Cruize Garlett replaced by Cameron Richardson in the third quarter
Richmond: Tyrone Vickery replaced by Shane Tuck in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Ritchie, Stevic, Meredith
Official crowd: 36,461 at Etihad Stadium
