Richmond responded to consecutive defeats at the hands of Sydney and Port Adelaide with an emphatic performance in defeating St Kilda by 86 points at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night.
The Tigers dominated the disposal count (+37), the inside-50 battle (+31), the clearance count (+16) and the contested game (+19), with coach Damien Hardwick suggesting afterwards that it was the best the Tigers have looked so far this year.
Shai Bolton (eight clearances) led the way from the heart of the midfield, with Shane Edwards (seven), Toby Nankervis (six), Trent Cotchin (five) and Dustin Martin (five) also influential in the convincing win.
"A lot of it was on the back of clearance," Hardwick said.
"The game was corresponding to those numbers … I think in the second half, our guys got to work and drove their legs a little bit more. They fought through tackles and got the ball to the outside.
"A lot of credit goes to our centre bounce players and Toby Nankervis was terrific once again, so it was a real positive for us.
"It was some of our best football that we've played, there's no doubt. As a coach, you'll always look for areas of growth and we'll certainly find them in the review."
