The Tigers ended their season on a high note, beating St Kilda 13.7 (85) to 4.13 (37) and producing an impressive brand of football throughout the entire game.
Richmond got off to a hot start in the 48-point win, and drew first blood through Samson Ryan after zippy small forward Noah Roberts-Thomson weaved through traffic and dished out the handball to him, setting up a snapping goal.
Momentum continued to build after a centimetre perfect set shot from Liam Fawcett hard up on the boundary, with St Kilda squandering their chances in front of the big sticks at the other end.
At quarter time Richmond had a nice buffer of 16 points and looked very dangerous when the ball hit the ground inside-50. And in contrast to last weekend’s game, the Tigers got stronger in the second quarter and kicked the first two goals of the term, pushing their lead out to 28 points.
At that point the Saints lifted their pressure game and were able to force plenty of front-half turnovers, but still struggled with their conversion which allowed Richmond to remain in front.
St Kilda finally kicked one and cut the deficit to 14 points, before getting another late in the second quarter courtesy of Lance Collard to be back within seven points at the main break.
But Richmond came out of half time in fine form, with Ryan setting the tone for his side as he slotted two goals inside the first three minutes of the term.
Nick Collier and Jasper Alger followed suit which created a strong gap on the scoreboard, pushing the lead out to 30 points at three-quarter time.
St Kilda took the game on to begin the last quarter, needing bold play for a comeback but Richmond repelled with Oliver Hayes-Brown kicking the first goal of the term.
From there the Tigers weren't going to be denied of victory, kicking three more goals and restricting St Kilda to only one second-half major, helping them cruise to a 48-point victory.
Samson Ryan was immense in the ruck and up forward, picking up 15 disposals and four goals while Jasper Alger (three goals) was at his crafty best.
Some of the other major contributors were Kane McAuliffe, who finished the game with 25 disposals and nine clearances and Zach O’Keefe (23 disposals, 11 marks) who stood tall down back in just his fifth VFL game.
The win draws Richmond’s VFL season to a close and is a good way to springboard them into 2027.
Richmond 3.2 5.2 9.4 13.7 (85)
St Kilda 0.4 3.7 3.10 4.13 (37)
Goalkickers: Ryan 4, Alger 3, Fawcett 2, Rioli, Peucker, Hayes-Brown, Collier.
