Richmond notched its fourth straight win and consolidated sixth spot on the ladder with a convincing 64-point victory over St Kilda at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.
The Saints kicked the first two goals of the match and stayed in the contest until early in the second quarter, but from there it was all Richmond as the yellow and black piled on nine of the next 10 majors.
The Tigers’ midfield shone, with Trent Cotchin returning to his best form, especially in the opening half, and Dustin Martin, Nathan Foley and Daniel Jackson all having influential roles.
The performance of Nathan Foley was hugely encouraging for the Tigers as he continues to head back to the form he enjoyed before hurting his Achilles tendon early in 2012.
Foley racked up 23 touches and kicked two goals to be amongst the best on the ground.
Ty Vickery stood up in the absence of Ivan Maric with help from Orren Stephenson, while youngsters Brandon Ellis and Reece Conca continued to show their growing maturity.
Winners were much harder to find in St Kilda jumpers, though Nick Riewoldt (22 disposals, eight marks and one goal) gave everything as always, but ultimately lost the ‘battle of the cousins’ as Jack kicked three goals and had a hand in a number of others.
Nick Dal Santo had plenty of the football (25 disposals and one goal) as did Clinton Jones (24), David Armitage (25) and Jack Steven (23). Trent Dennis-Lane was the only multiple goal kicker for St Kilda with two.
The win takes Richmond to a 9-4 record ahead of a clash with North Melbourne this Saturday afternoon.
RICHMOND 4.4 10.9 15.13 17.17 (119)
ST KILDA 3.2 4.4 7.5 8.7 (55)
GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Jackson 3, Grigg 2, Foley 2, Deledio 2, Ellis, King, A. Edwards, Vickery, Conca
St Kilda: Dennis-Lane 2, Steven, Montagna, Jones, Murdoch, Dal Santo, Riewoldt
BEST
Richmond: Foley, Vickery, Cotchin, A. Edwards, Jackson, Conca
St Kilda: Dennis-Lane, Armitage, Ray, Steven, Jones
INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
St Kilda: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Jake King subbed out for Matt White in the third quarter
St Kilda: Seb Ross subbed out for Sam Dunell in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Dalgleish, Wenn, Foot
Official crowd: 52,184 at the MCG
Richmond continues winning run
Richmond notched its fourth straight win and consolidated sixth spot on the ladder with a convincing 64-point victory over St Kilda at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.
