RICHMOND had a convincing NAB Challenge win over the Sydney Swans in Narrandera tonight but lost promising key position player Jay Schulz to a worrying rib injury and Graham Polak to a foot injury.

 

Tigers star Matthew Richardson kicked five goals to lead the Tigers to a promising 17.11 (113) to 13.10 (88) victory, but the injuries were a concern for coach Terry Wallace.

Wallace said Schulz was going to be taken to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital because he was struggling to breathe, but the Tigers medical team decided to get him back on a plane to Melbourne tonight.

"Jay Schulz has got a rib injury, we're not exactly sure of the extent of that," Wallace said after the match.

"He'll get x-rays tomorrow.

"If you cop a full-blooded knee to the ribs going at the pace these blokes are going at, I think it was Richo (Richardson), so that's a hundred-odd kilos sort of going through your ribs, a bit of friendly fire."

Wallace said the 22-year-old had pulled up okay soon after the match but would be closely examined tomorrow.

Ruckman Troy Simmonds came off as a precaution with stiffness in his quadricep and the Tigers suffered a third injury to Polak, who came off with a bruised heel.

Despite the injuries, the Tigers won convincingly thanks to Richardson's straight kicking and the pace of Nathan Foley and Richard Tambling through the midfield.

Wallace was happy with both the result and style of play from the Tigers.

"We've got more speed in that area (the midfield) and probably just more guys who can work through the middle of the ground, which is something that we've been trying to work towards for three or four years now and finally we're seeing some of that come to fruition," he said.

Swans coach Paul Roos wasn't worried by the result, admitting he was more concerned about giving some youngsters a run and getting key players like Barry Hall, who kicked four goals, and Michael O'Loughlin match fit.

Ed Barlow, Jared Moore, Heath Grundy, Matt O'Dwyer and Jesse White all came in for praise from Roos, who said he would be looking for all of the youngsters to press for game time in the season proper.

"The main thing tonight was about playing against a team that was full strength, sometimes you can play in these games where one team's got a lot of good players and the other team's got not so many and I thought tonight was good," Roos said.

Richmond         5.5  10.7   15.8   17.11 (113)
Sydney Swans   3.3   7.7   11.9   13.10  (88)

GOALS
Richmond:
Richardson 5, Deledio 3, Johnson 2, Hughes, Tuck, Polak, Pettifer, Tambling, Brown, White
Sydney Swans: Hall 4, Bolton 2, McVeigh, Jolly, Kirk, O'Loughlin, Moore, O'Keefe, Ablett

BEST
Richmond:
Richardson, Deledio, Johnson
Sydney Swans: Hall, Barlow, Bolton

INJURIES
Richmond:
Schulz (rib), Polak (foot)
Sydney Swans: Nil.

Reports: Nil.

Crowd: 8,296 at Narrandera Sports Ground, Narrandera NSW