Australian Football

Match Report

Popular opinion in the lead up to this match was that the Giants had set themselves for a big game. GWS made wholesale changes to its side, adding plenty of experience with the likes of Shane Mumford, Jeremy Cameron, Curtly Hampton, Dylan Addison and Stephen Gilham adding plenty of skill and experience. Coupled with the fact that Richmond had lost three matches on an end, including a very deflating defeat to Melbourne, the writing appeared to be on the wall for a return to winners list for GWS.

Sadly for the Giants, nothing could have been further from the truth once the game began. From the outset of this game, with Jack Riewoldt kicking the first goal at the two-minute mark, until the final siren, Richmond dominated the Giants and made them look second rate. The Tigers kicked eight goals for the quarter without a miss, four of those to Riewoldt (who had been the subject of much media attention during the week as a result of comments seen as critical of his team) and led by 37 points at the first change, the Giants' only major of the term coming too Stephen Coniglio at the four-minute mark.

The shell-shocked Giants did not improve in the second quarter. Richmond went on its merry way, kicking another six goals, including three more to Riewoldt to give hin seven by half time.

Leading by 72 points, the only questions that remained as the third quarter got underway was what the Tigers' winning margin would be and how many goals Riewoldt would kick. The was little improvement for GWS in the third term. The Giants kicked 2.3 while Richmond added another 7.2 to lead by 103 points at the final change. The Giants were at least competitive in the final term, kicking 2.2 to Richmond's 3.6 and the final winning margin for the Tigers was 113 points. Jack Riewoldt finished with 11 goals, the equal third-highest ever by a Richmond player in a match. He was clearly the Tigers' best player, but Dustin Martin (36 disposals and four marks) and Brandon Ellis (31 possessions, nine marks) were among many good players for Richmond.

Dylan Shiel (34 disposals, eight tackles) and Adam Treloar (34 possessions and eight marks) never stopped trying for the Giants, who have not won a match since round three and languish in 17th place on the ladder, ahead of only Brisbane.

Richmond's third win of the year sees the Tigers jump to 13th on the ladder. With a healthy percentage of 102.8, the Tigers will retain some hope of participating in September. They are currently two games outside of the top eight and will take on Essendon next Saturday night in the annual "Dreamtime at the 'G" match.

GOALS
GWS: Cameron, Palmer, Coniglio, Hoskin-Elliott, Scully
Richmond: Riewoldt 11; Houli, Vickery, Griffiths, Ellis 2, McDonough, Edwards, Foley, Cotchin, Grigg

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
GWS: Shiel, Coniglio, Hoskin-Elliott
Richmond: Riewoldt, Hampson, Martin, Rance, Deledio, Houli, Cotchin, Ellis, Foley

BEST - SPORTAL.COM.AU
GWS: Hampton, Shiel, Coniglio, Hoskin-Elliott
Richmond: Riewoldt, Martin, Rance, Deledio

COACHES' COMMENTS
Leon Cameron (GWS): Let's cut straight to the chase - it was really disappointing. We've let our fans and our supporters down today. Back in Sydney for the first time in six weeks, home ground, two weeks off - no excuse. We can't run away from the sort of tripe that we served up. We've got to deal with it and work through it to become a better footy club.

Damien Hardwick (Rich): Riweoldt's defensive efforts early were fantastic and then to get rewarded offensively was very good. Although we weren't winning games [before today] we could sense that we weren't too far away. We'd made steps forward but hadn't been kicking goals, so we knew it [today's result] was coming. The important thing for us and our players going forward is what we do with this.

SUBSTITUTES
GWS: Stephen Gilham replaced by Josh Kelly
Richmond: Daniel Jackson replaced Nathan Foley in the second quarter

INJURIES
GWS: Coniglio (shoulder), Kelly (eye)
Richmond: Jackson (leg)

UMPIRES: Dalgleish, Schmitt, Foot

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Dwayne Russell, Brad Johnson, Mark Ricciuto, Barry Hall