Richmond has provided Tiger fans with some joy after dissecting North Ballarat by 82 points at the ME Bank Centre.
The Tigers were impressive from the outset with their ball movement and pressure, eventually powering away from the Roosters 19.15.129 to 6.11.47 as Shane Goss reports.
Tall forwards Liam McBean (five goals) and Tyrone Vickery (three) impressed, as did Matt Dea in defence and Matthew Arnot with 24 disposals. Among the best for North Ballarat were defenders Luke Kiel (22 disposals) and Matt Austin along with midfielders Nick Rippon (27) and Trent Dumont (22, 8 marks).
Fans had barely settled into their seats in the Jack Dyer Stand by the time the Tigers had the first two goals on the board. Their height in the forward line was providing the Roosters’ defenders with plenty of headaches and after an entertaining first quarter they held a fourteen point lead.
Tough Tiger midfielder Matt Thomas failed to appear after the first break having nine touches in the quarter as the home side continued their heavy pressure with and without the footy. Connor Menadue kicked two goals in the second quarter for the Tigers and Vickery and McBean continued their form on opponents Joel Tippett and Sam Durdin. By half-time the Tigers had cleared out to a handy 35-point lead.
Roosters coach Gerard Fitzgerald moved Bryce Curnow from defence to attack in the second half to immediate effect as he goaled three minutes in.
Richmond slammed on the next four goals however, to blow the margin out beyond 50 points, outclassing their opponents with slicker ball movement and hard running. Shaun Hampson (41 hitouts) was having the better of his ex-teammate Orren Stephenson in the ruck, with the later eventually playing deep in attack.
At the final change, the Tigers were in complete control leading by 50 points. Nick Wynne and Ed Barlow were busy and Jason Castagna was creative through the midfield with his leg speed.
For the second week in a row North Ballarat were held goalless in the final term in a worrying sign for coach Fitzgerald. Richmond coach Tim Clarke would be well satisfied his group, after a narrow loss to Geelong the week before, came out and outclassed a finalist from last year.
The Tigers had nine more inside fifties for seventeen more scoring shots and had numerous options in attack, while the Roosters failed to find a multiple goalkicker. Despite Hampson's dominance in the ruck, the clearances were even (34-31), however the Tigers had 59 more handballs (195-136) indicating their will to run and carry the ball towards their tall forwards.
Both sides have big matches in Round 5 with Richmond facing crosstown rival Collingwood at home in the Channel 7 televised match of the day. North Ballarat gets a rare opportunity playing in an AFL curtain-raiser away to the Northern Blues at Etihad Stadium starting 1:15pm.
Photo: Shane Goss
Last Modified on 11/05/2015 11:20