Dustin Martin has booted a career-high six goals as ruthless Richmond feasted on lifeless Brisbane in a 93-point mauling at the MCG.
The inept Lions didn’t manage a goal until the shadows of three-quarter time on Saturday, while the clinical Tigers feasted on their many errors in their 16.14 (110) to 2.5 (17) win in front of 32,870 fans.
Martin didn’t have his usual influence on the ball but Brisbane had no answers to the Brownlow Medal winner’s imposing presence inside 50.
Damien Hardwick lauded the impact of Dion Prestia and Reece Conca in a more even midfield that allowed him to redeploy Martin in attack.
“We’ve got the midfield depth to cover him through the middle (now) … and because of that depth we can start to push Dustin forward a lot more,” Hardwick said.
“It was a good look for us today … there’s no doubt he’s a beast up there one-on-one. He’s very hard to combat and we managed to get the dividend of that today.”
Skipper Trent Cotchin led the way on the ball with 26 possessions, with Reece Conca (26) and Shaun Grigg (26) also important as the Tigers improved to a 3-1 record.
The Lions’ score was the lowest total since they became the Brisbane Lions in 1997 and equalled their lowest score as the Brisbane Bears.
It took a Richmond error – a Toby Nankervis dropped mark – for Dayne Zorko to dribble through the Lions’ first major with less than two minutes left in the third term.
The Lions were winless heading into the clash but have been more competitive than their record suggests.
Chris Fagan’s young side were widely praised last week after they gave ladder leaders Port Adelaide a big fright before going down by five points at Adelaide Oval.
“We’ve been really competitive for the first three weeks but for some reason or another the bubble burst,” Fagan said.
“It’s hard to know with a young group … maybe last week they got a lot of pats on the back for that effort against Port Adelaide and thought perhaps it would all just happen again today.
“But in the first half in particular I thought we got a lesson from Richmond in contested ball and intensity.”
Lions skipper Dayne Beams had 25 touches with five clearances but his 150th match is a milestone he’ll remember for all the wrong reasons.
In one of few lowlights for the Tigers, youngster Jack Graham was reported for rough conduct on Zorko.
