RICHMOND has bounced back in style from last week's heavy loss to Collingwood, demolishing Fremantle by 64 points on a hot Sunday afternoon at Subiaco Oval in Perth.

Spearhead Matthew Richardson was superb in the win, starting on the wing but often drifting across half-back, and kicking four goals to go with 15 marks and 25 possessions. The Tigers won 20.17 (137) to 10.13 (73) on the back of 151 more possessions than Freo (426 – 275).

Richmond's skills early were terrific except when kicking for goal, and the visitors should have led by about nine goals rather than five at the long break, but they broke the game open in the third, kicking four goals to two and getting the lead out to 40 points in the 29-degree heat. After the long break, the Tigers simply kept the pressure on and ground away at the hosts, never giving them a sniff.

Nathan Brown comprehensively beat Steven Dodd, but Richmond had innumerable good players – Nathan Foley, Richardson, Chris Hyde, Jordan McMahon, Troy Simmonds, Kane Johnson, Chris Newman, Graham Polak and Jake King all terrific.

For Fremantle, good players were much harder to find, with Luke McPharlin trying hard in a forward line that suffered from patchy delivery, Peter Bell - playing his 277th match, equalling former Collingwood great Wayne Richardson as the most capped WA player in VFL/AFL history – working as tirelessly as ever, tall utility Daniel Gilmore and newcomer Chris Mayne showing good hands and football nous.

Both teams were hit early when Fremantle's Chris Tarrant and Dean Solomon and Richmond's Luke McGuane had a three-way collision that saw McGuane leave the field with an injured left shoulder and Solomon leave on the medicart.

Before the game, Fremantle's Michael Johnson was omitted due to calf soreness and replaced by fellow tall Robbie Warnock, while for the Tigers, Daniel Jackson was replaced by speedster Matt White.

Fremantle went into the game as the lowest-priced favourites of the weekend, but never looked like it.

Richmond clearly had the better of the first term, although they should have made more of their advantage, with 93 disposals to 63. Chris Newman kicked the first goal after just 32 seconds, slotting one from 55 on the run, but later kicked seven behinds for the term, including two very gettable shots by Graham Polak and Matt White, and at the first break the margin was just 16 points.

Mitch Morton kick-started the second term with a great snap off his right foot on the right pocket, but Jeff Farmer replied, winning a contest on the point post that the Tigers should have forced through.

Matthew Pavlich then made the most of a soft free against Kelvin Moore for in the back, and when McPharlin ran into an open goal after good work from the exciting Mayne and Ryan Crowley, the margin was back to just 10 points.

But the Tigers responded superbly, through Richardson and then Brown goaling on the run from 25. Chris Hyde curled one home with the left from 45 after some terrific work from Foley to knock the ball free, and the margin was 28 points at half time.

Brown booted the first of the third from 50, then Foley got his sixth scoring assist of the game when he dished it off to McMahon, who jinked around onto his left and snapped from 45.

Pavlich then got his second, but Richard Tambling’s snap from 15 and a goal to Deledio after more good work from Richardson made the margin 40 points at the last change.

Bell got the first of the last to give Freo some hope, but Richardson was the recipient of a handball from Polak after a terrific mark, then Shane Edwards kicked one from 10 metres.

Pavlich then got his third goal from a free kick, but Tambling then curled another home from 30 off the outside of his right boot before Hyde, Tuck and Tambling with his third completed the rout.

Next weekend, the Tigers take on the unbeaten Western Bulldogs at Telstra Dome on Sunday, while Fremantle faces up to Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.

Richmond       5.7   10.11   14.13    20.17 (137)
Fremantle       3.3   6.7   8.9   10.13 (73)

GOALS
Richmond: Richardson 4, Tambling 3, Hyde 3, Morton 2, Brown 2, Newman, Polak, McMahon, Deledio, Edwards, Tuck
Fremantle: Pavlich 3, McPharlin 2, Tarrant, Mayne, Farmer, Crowley, Bell

BEST
Richmond: Richardson, Foley, Johnson, Brown, Simmonds, McMahon, Tambling
Fremantle: Bell, Gilmore, Pavlich, McPharlin, Mayne

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Fila, Ellis, Keating

Official crowd: 37,541 at Subiaco Oval

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.