Jack Riewoldt has led Richmond to a wonderful top of the table victory over Sydney at Etihad Stadium.
Riewoldt kicked 3.2 from 16 marks as the Tigers always threatened to break away from the gallant Swans.
After Lance Franklin brought the margin back to within a goal early in the last quarter, Richmond turned on the jets and ran out 26 point winners.
The tone for the game was set right from the outset, the pressure, and the nearly overflowing grandstands made for a finals-like intensity.
As soon as a player got his hands on the ball they were beset with tacklers.
Ben Ronke a terrific crumbing goal, gathering the ball at full pace and bursting forwards, backing it up instantly afterwards with another.
The Swans looked good early, with Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker covering the ground beautifully.
Jack Riewoldt got the Tigers on the board from a set shot in the pocket, which seemed to settle them down a bit.
Lance Franklin drew a free kick and converted, and then Daniel Rioli bent through a lovely banana from the pocket, and after a slow start to the game the goals were now coming thick and fast.
Reece Conca suffered a nasty ankle injury in his 100th game, as he bore a violent Lance Franklin tackle, and looked in excruciating pain before being driven from the ground.
Play stopped for about five minutes, and the Tigers were buzzing once it started again, and the game opened up.
A long set shot from Nick Vlastuin just made it home, although the Sydney presence on the goal line was disappointing.
As the end to a tough and entertaining first quarter drew to a close, Dan Butler drew a free kick close to goal, and snapped truly, before Josh Caddy kicked Richmond’s third goal since Conca’s injury, and fourth in a row.
The rout continued immediately afterwards when Jack Rieowldt took a great contested mark, and gave Jayden Short a quick handball, who sent a booming kick straight through, completing a six goal first quarter.
Where Kennedy and Parker had dominated to give Sydney their edge, it took a collective team effort for Richmond, but in particular Jack Riewoldt was crucial.
Lance Franklin’s second goal was an absolute blinder, and brought the Swans back into the game to start the second quarter.
Will Hayward showed some dash to get the ball to half forward, where he followed up and helped get the ball to Oliver Florent, who burnt off the Richmond defenders for another exhilarating goal.
Dan Butler then snapped his second, but from there the goals dried right up, and there were no more for the half.
Sydney’s defence was typically dogged, while Nick Vlastuin completely took over down back for the Tigers.
Other than his long goal, a highlight was a hanger over Lance Franklin, who the Tigers usually had two or three defenders on.
Tom McCartin looked good when he went near the ball, but all too often it was Franklin who the Swans midfielders targeted, and it became all too easy for Vlastuin, and the rest of the Richmond defenders, to intercept.
Sydney again started the quarter well, thanks to Oliver Florent, who brilliantly caught Alex Rance holding the ball, then received a 50 metre penalty to make a certainty of it.
However, Luke Parker left the ground at the same time with an elbow injury, and Isaac Heeney suffered concussion and didn’t return, while Riewoldt responded superbly, marking on the lead and kicking truly from 55 metres.
Callum Sinclair marked forward, but a violent exchange from Rance and Franklin saw the ball given to Richmond, and thanks to more superb marking from Riewoldt, they got the ball forward to Kane Lambert, who pushed the margin out to 19 points.
An elbow to the face from the otherwise flawless Nick Vlastuin gave Luke Parker a 50 metre penalty, which he scored from but still the Swans couldn’t string consecutive goals together to mount the comeback, as yet another 50 metre penalty gave Jayden Short his second goal.
Luke Parker kicked another, thanks to some extraordinary work from an out numbered Ben Ronke, who brought the ball to ground and stepped out of traffic to run the ball forward.
A classic mark from Riewoldt – his twelfth of the night – was the moment of the night, perhaps apart from the ensuing kick, which soared through from wide out on the half forward flank as both sides were more or less trading goals, but Sydney, 22 points behind, were at breaking strain.
The Tigers had plenty of other opportunities than just the ones they converted, whereas Sydney only had a very small amount of convincing forays forward; luckily for them they converted nearly all of them.
Will Hayward kept them within touching distance, bringing the margin back to 16 points in the shadows of three quarter time.
Speaking of touching distance, Lance Franklin got too close to the man on the mark as he lined up from 50, and his shot was smothered, but it turned out Rance had run over the mark to effect the smother, so Buddy got another shot, this time from the goalsquare.
The three quarter time margin of 10 points didn’t reflect how terrific Richmond’s effort had been right throughout the third quarter.
Josh Kennedy, was unstoppable all night, found Lance Franklin one out immediately as the fourth quarter began and Franklin was able to bring the margin back to four points.
Richmond started to get the ball forward more, and while they struggled to score, locked the ball away at their end of the ground, and as the game at last slowed down, Sydney never had any numbers forward of the ball when they did win it, so it always came straight back.
At last, a bouncing shot from Kane Lambert pushed the margin out beyond a kick, and then Shane Edwards kicked his first immediately after, and their lead was back out to 17 points.
The Swans kept trying, but they couldn’t go two minutes without Jack Riewoldt taking another contested mark somewhere around the ground.
Kane Lambert, who played a terrific game, put the icing on the cake with his third goal, and the Tigers were home.
Richmond look difficult to tip out of top spot now, with games against Adelaide, GWS, and St Kilda to come, while the Swans might be contesting their spot in the top 4 with Geelong next Friday night.
RICHMOND 14.9 (93)
SYDNEY SWANS 11.1 (67)
GOALS
RICHMOND: Riewoldt, Lambert 3, Short, Butler 2, Rioli, Edwards, Vlastuin, Caddy
SYDNEY: Franklin 4, Parker, Ronke Florent 2, Hayward
BEST
RICHMOND: Riewoldt, Short, Vlastuin, Rance, Lambert, Cotchin, Nankervis
SYDNEY: Kennedy, Parker, Hayward, Florent, Franklin
INJURIES
RICHMOND: Conca (ankle)
SYDNEY: Heeney (concussion)
Talking Points
LANCE V RANCE
It was billed as a modern day Jakovich v Carey rivalry all week, and it was a fascinating battle all night. Franklin finished with four goals, but it seemed as though Rance took the points.
Franklin’s first came from a tenuous free kick in a marking contest (Jarrad McVeigh took the mark anyway). Rance appeared to be blocked while Franklin led to mark his second, and his third came from another slightly soft free kick, and a controversial 50 metre penalty. Franklin’s fourth was from a bona fide one on one victory – in a big moment – but he also gave away a likely goal to Callum Sinclair by whacking Rance in the throat.
Additionally, Rance had many terrific moments through the night. The best of those was a stretching smother to blunt a rampant Gary Rohan, who was launching a shot from centre half forward.
THE FULL FORWARD UP THE OTHER END
It was eight years ago that Jack Riewoldt took the footy world by storm back in 2010, as a 21 year old who kicked 78 en route to the first of two Coleman Medals.
Richmond had readjusted their playing style as they have climbed the ladder since, and Riewoldt is never discussed as one of the best forwards in the AFL, having fallen behind Franklin, Kennedy, Lynch, Brown and even Daniher in terms of headlines. The injustice of this can be illustrated by a quick glance at the stats tonight. Lance Franklin kicked four goals and Riewoldt three, but Riewoldt was best on ground by a long way tonight. He competes magnificently in the air and gets to so many contests. While he won every battle he was in tonight, he usually at least brings the ball to ground level, where Richmond have a fleet of brilliant crumbers.
He might not kick the most goals, but he is probably worth more wins to his side than any other key forward in the AFL.
STEPPING UP
It seems as though the last thing an opposition want is for Richmond to have any setbacks. Their reaction to every crisis is to respond with intensity, but perhaps also personality.
When Reece Conca went down with a nasty looking injury, the other 17 players went over to console him. He even scored a kiss from Daniel Rioli. The care for their teammate was obvious, but the moment he was off the field, their focus switched back to footy, and rather than being shell shocked, they were the opposite, and blitzed the Swans with an unstoppable run until quarter time. They again responded when the persistent Swans worked their way back into the game, kicking the final three goals – and having the final seven scoring shots.
Whenever Richmond need it, seemingly someone steps up. The same couldn’t be said for their opponents. Lance Franklin kicked four and Josh Kenendy had 36 gritty disposals, but Isaac Heeney was off the ground for most of the game, and they had too many passangers.
While the progress of Hayward, Ronke and Florent was very encouraging, they had a lot of players who they needed more from.
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