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RICHMOND 17.19 (121) def WESTERN BULLDOGS 8.13 (61)
SUDDENLY, finals appears to be looking good for Richmond, who has been renowned for just missing out on the September action in recent times.
Its comprehensive 60-point win over the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night has consolidated its spot in the top eight. But after years of relying on too few, now they have a key spread of players performing and chipping in which excites coach Damian Hardwick.
“That’s what we’ve sort of enjoyed at the moment,” Hardwick said.
“People often say that Trent Cotchin’s disposals and Deledio’s disposals have gone down, but that’s what good sides do.
“We’re not reliant on those guys any more.”
Bachar Houli has been performing well, as has Daniel Jackson and Dustin Martin. Reece Conca just continues to excite Tiger fans and he still has so much potential to grow as a player.
The real downer for the Tigers was a knee injury to recruit Troy Chaplin, who has been more than handy for the Tigers since crossing from the Power.
“Structurally, we think he’s fine. We’ve just got to work our way through, whether he twisted his knee or not we’re not too sure.”
“He seems to think he’ll be fine, but we’ll need to get some tests during the week.”
Hardwick admitted Chaplin’s impact has been huge.
“He’s been one of those guys you can’t measure. His leadership, his ability to get body on players is phenomenal.
“He’s got some of the best body work I’ve seen. He makes our back six better. He makes players around him better.”
For the Bulldogs, there’s little to get them excited in contrast to Tiger fans.
They showed some signs of fight and spirit in the second term leading up to half time. But apart from that, this match was done and dusted from early in the third stanza and from Hardwick’s point of view, you can’t ask for more than that.
Here are the highlights from the game:
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.3 5.9 5.11 8.13 (61)
RICHMOND 4.8 8.13 13.16 17.19 (121)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Stringer 2, Cooney, Jones, Hunter, Giansiracusa, Murphy, Boyd
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Conca 2, Vickery 2, A Edwards, Foley, Houli, Grigg, Martin, White, Jackson, Vlastuin, Cotchin
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Griffen, Boyd, Murphy, Macrae, Hunter, Roughead
Richmond: Martin, Conca, Houli, Jackson, Grigg, Riewoldt, Deledio
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Richmond: Troy Chaplin (left knee), David Astbury (hamstring), Nick Vlastuin (shin)
SUBSTITUTES
Western Bulldogs: Nathan Hrovat replaced by Daniel Giansiracusa in the third quarter
Richmond: David Astbury replaced by Matt White in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Stewart, Kamolins
Crowd: 29,788 at Etihad Stadium