Richmond VFL defeated Carlton by 19 points in their final practice match of the pre-season on Friday morning, 8.16 (64) to 13.5 (83).

In their third-and-final practice match of the pre-season, the VFL Tigers secured their second consecutive win, defeating arch-rival Carlton by 19 points.

The clinical Tigers converted eight goals from nine scoring shots in the first half to establish a 26 point half-time lead while the Blues were left to lament their poor accuracy in front of goal. 

Liam Fawcett was strong early, kicking two goals in the opening term. The 197cm key forward finished with three goals against the Blues.

Also finishing with three goals against Carlton was Samson Ryan. 

VFL senior coach Jake Batchelor said, “we knew our key forwards were probably going to be the difference for us this week.”

‘Really pleased with their performance, but (also) their effort throughout the whole game,” he said.

“Really proud of their ability to accept feedback and put it into action.”

Youngster Jasper Alger was impressive against Carlton to finish with two goals on the day, as was 195cm key forward Jonty Faull, who was impressive in his first official outing in Richmond colours.

“He was great, he was crashing packs…that’s all we wanted from him,” Bachelor said of Faull.

“It (Batchelor’s message) was be a contest, it was celebrate, it was have fun, and enjoy your first game in the Richmond colours, and we’re looking forward to seeing him build from here.”

Hitting the scoreboard on the day was Tom McCarthy, Kane McAuliffe, and 199cm key forward Thomas Sims.

Featuring for the VFL Tigers for the first time in over 900 days was 213cm Category B rookie Mate Colina.

“He was great, and he’s trained that way,” Batchelor said.

“It wasn’t a big surprise that we’ve seen some good ruck work, some good contest work, and some really good clean hands as well.

“The boys around him can feel really confident and strong to know that he’s going to get the ball for us, he’s going to drive his legs and be really strong with his big limbs, so it’s an absolute asset for us.”

Richmond VFL will look ahead to their Round 1 clash with Coburg at Holm Park in Beaconsfield on Sunday, March 23 from 11:00am.

“We just need to keep connecting (until Round 1),” Batchelor said.

“We need to keep getting on the same page, we need to iron out some things in our game plan, which we’ve got great exposure to today.”

“We treated this like Round 1, we spoke about how proud we were of our boys last night, and what they achieved through raw effort and sheer determination, and we said we want to replicate that, and it’s in our control.”

Carlton 1.8 2.11 5.12 8.16 (64)

Richmond 6.0 8.1 11.4 13.5 (83)

Goals: Fawcett (3), Ryan (3), Faull (2), Alger (2), McCarthy, Sims, McAuliffe