Richmond has fallen short after a gallant fight against the ladder-leading Collingwood, going down by 36 points at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.

Even though Tim Taranto was pulled out late in the warm-up after he failed a last-minute fitness test due to calf tightness, the Tigers didn’t lose too many admirers for most of Sunday’s game against the ladder leaders. 

Collingwood led at every change and won comfortably in the end, but it was the third quarter where the Magpies kicked five unanswered goals in 20 minutes to finally end the Tigers’ gallant challenge, in front of nearly 60,000 people on a dark, cold winter afternoon. 

After wins over Essendon and West Coast, Richmond carried that momentum early. First-year forward Tom Sims kicked a goal on quarter-time to reduce the margin to eight points at the first break. 

Forward pressure from Maurice Rioli continued to pay off in the second term, with yet another run down tackle resulting in an important pack mark and goal for third-gamer Taj Hotton, which reduced the margin to a single point.

Pressure was up around the ground, particularly in the forward line, allowing the young Tigers to threaten Collingwood's dangerous run and carry game style.

The Tigers made the most of their chances inside 50 in the first half, but they couldn’t stop Nick Daicos.

Nick Vlastuin chopped off everything in the first half, amassing 12 intercepts from 16 disposals to patrol Richmond’s defence.

Steely Green kicked the first goal of the second half – his second – a stunner from 40m out directly on the boundary line to keep the Tigers alive. 

When Noah Balta made it two goals in the first four minutes of the third quarter, Richmond had a sniff. Collingwood didn’t touch the ball in that time.

That was as close as they would get, with Pies showing their experience to close out the third term, stretching the lead to 35 points at the final break.

It would remain much the same in the final term, with Richmond kicking just one more goal to close out the match, going down by 36 points.

Tyler Sonsie played one of his best games with 28 disposals, Vlastuin had 25 disposals, 472 metres gained and 17 intercept possessions, while Jacob Hopper was the Tigers' leading ball-getter with 33 disposals and six score involvements.

The Tigers look ahead to next week's clash against Gold Coast at People First Stadium on Saturday evening.

Another week, another magic moment
It wasn’t quite as dramatic as the chase at Optus Stadium last weekend, but Maurice Rioli backed it up with two brilliant tackles in the first half, the first to nail Josh Daicos cold holding the ball inside Richmond’s forward 50. The second was even better, catching Steele Sidebottom holding the ball after giving the Collingwood veteran a 10m head start. 

RICHMOND   2.1   4.4   7.5   8.9 (57)
COLLINGWOOD   3.3   7.6   12.10   13.15 (93)  

GOALS
Richmond: Hotton 2, Green 2, Trezise, Sims, Balta, Faull
Collingwood: N. Daicos 3, Mihocek 2, Membrey 2, Hoskin-Elliott 2, Schultz, McStay, Elliott, Houston

BEST
Richmond: Vlastuin, Hopper, Broad, Balta, Nankervis, Short, Green
Collingwood: N.Daicos, J.Daicos, Quaynor, Mitchell, Long, Maynard

INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Collingwood: Sullivan (knee)

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Jasper Alger replaced Luke Trainor (tactical) in the fourth quarter
Collingwood: Oleg Markov replaced Lachie Sullivan (knee) in the second quarter

LATE CHANGE:
Richmond: Tim Taranto (calf) replaced by Jasper Alger 
Collingwood: Scott Pendlebury (soreness) replaced by Oleg Markov

Crowd: 59,454 at the MCG