An improved Richmond outfit has fallen short of Brisbane, as the mature Lions pulled away in the second half to record a 29-point win over the Tigers.

The Tigers showed some promising signs of improvement off the back of their winless first season in 2020, but the Lions' fluid ball movement and domination of the middle led to the 1.6 (12) to 5.11 (41) victory.

It was a gusty day at the Swinburne Centre, the first AFLW game at the venue, with the first goal not coming to the Brunton Avenue end until the fourth term via Dakota Davidon.

Brisbane made all the early running, controlling play across the middle of the ground and structuring well in defence, forcing Richmond into skill errors. 

Captain Katie Brennan thought she'd kicked the Tigers' first goal in the dying seconds of the first quarter, but it was called touched off the boot from her set shot.

In the end, it was dynamic key forward Courtney Wakefield who atoned for last year's missed opportunity at Richmond's first ever goal, showing a clean pair of heels at 33 and good game sense to keep the ball in play and slamming the ball home from the square.

Cathy Svarc held Tiger best and fairest Monique Conti possession-less in the first quarter, and to just three at half-time, while topping the Lions' count at the main break with nine of her own.

The Tigers looked at their most dangerous when moving the ball quickly, but didn't catch the organised Lions defence – led by Kate Lutkins and Nat Grider – on the hop nearly enough.

It was a well-rounded performance from the Lions, who would have been thrilled with the performance of young cubs Belle Dawes (a career-high 21 touches, up from 12), ruck Tahlia Hickie, debutant Courtney Hodder and the ever-improving Grider. 

Full-back Harriet Cordner (12 disposals, seven marks) starred on debut for the Tigers after crossing from Melbourne, while No.1 pick Ellie McKenzie (12 touches) showed plenty on the wing for the Tiger Army to get excited about. 

New Tiger faces pack a punch
All the attention has been on Sarah Hosking and Sarah D'Arcy moving to Richmond over the trade period, and while the two performed well, it's Harriet Cordner who could prove to be the most important acquisition. The former Dee slotted in seamlessly into defence, taking composed intercept marks and settled the backline, which was often skittish last year. Her presence has also allowed the athletic Gabby Seymour to play as primary ruck, with usual first ruck Alice Edmonds named an emergency for this game.

Coach's reaction
"I think we gave ourselves a chance to stay in the game for all of three quarters, a few moments here and there, up until three-quarter time, we were a few goals down kicking with a few-goal wind. I thought we gave ourselves a chance, but in the last quarter, maybe in their endeavour to take the game on, really try and run them down, we just rushed. A lot of learnings from the last quarter." – Richmond coach Ryan Ferguson

Up next
Richmond will once again face some windy conditions, facing Melbourne at Casey Fields late on Saturday afternoon. 

RICHMOND    0.2     1.4     1.6     1.6     (12)
BRISBANE     2.3     2.4     4.8     5.11     (41)          

GOALS
Richmond: Wakefield
Brisbane: Bodey 2, Hodder, Hickie, Davidson

BEST
Richmond: Cordner, Dempsey, McKenzie, Seymour, Conti
Brisbane: Dawes, Svarc, Bates, Grider, Conway

INJURIES 
Richmond: Nil
Brisbane: Nil

Reports: Nil

Crowd: 988 at the Swinburne Centre

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