Dominance
WHEN you have the ball you always look quicker, but in the third quarter the Tigers looked to be channeling Usain Bolt. They burst from the stoppages, found space through the middle and tackled ferociously when they were without the ball. It was the Richmond many of its supporters have been waiting a long time to see. The Tigers kicked nine goals in the quarter and had an amazing 21 more inside 50s and 92 more disposals than Melbourne during that period of the game. It was a smashing.

A mature performance
Richmond president Gary March said pre-game that what the Tigers had to do against Melbourne was get the job done. The Tigers did that with an explosive third quarter and March thinks it's a portent of things to come: "We've got great expectations for this playing group and our expectations were to improve on last year and be challenging for a top eight spot. We don't shy away from that and we expect that journey to start today." For the sake of Tiger fans let's hope it's not another false dawn.

Dustin delivers
When Dustin Martin burst out of the middle at the 15-minute mark of the third quarter from a centre clearance, skipped off a lunging Jordie McKenzie and kicked a 60m goal it was game over. Martin is a special player with a fend-off that he is likely to become famous for. In the final quarter he controlled play in front of the MCG members, bouncing, handballing and regaining the ball and at one stage looked a chance to kick the goal of the year. He was just one of the stars of the day alongside Trent Cotchin, Reece Conca and Brett Deledio. However Hardwick quite sensibly said it was the performances of lesser lights Shaun Grigg, Nathan Foley and Bachar Houli that was most pleasing.

Tackle or turf?
Twice Melbourne's Jack Grimes and Richmond's Daniel Jackson tangled near the interchange bench and on both occasions Grimes applied fierce tackles on Jackson. They were legitimate tackles but the players came off second best as their heads hit the hard patch of ground that rings the members' wing with great force. Whether it was the tackle or the artificial turf surrounding the boundary that caused the damage will be a subject of debate. Jackson took some time to get up in the first half while Grimes left the second encounter groggy and concussed.

What next Melbourne?
The players met without the coaches after the game and emphasised the need to keep their chins up and stay positive. There is little prospect of senior players Brent Moloney and Colin Sylvia returning from injury while Liam Jurrah will come back through the VFL in two weeks. The Demons lack a crumbing forward and run outside the stoppages, and now they are in the early rocky stages of a rebuild. Hard yards lay ahead for Melbourne supporters.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs