1. Jack's back
After roaming the flanks last week in a selfless team role, Jack Riewoldt was back to his goalkicking best on Friday night, taking advantage of an undersized St Kilda backline. The 2012 Coleman medallist booted four first-half goals and finished with seven, with his contested marking a highlight. It continued a strong recent run against St Kilda for Riewoldt, who has now kicked 27 goals in his last five clashes against the Saints. Cousin Nick was strong for the Saints, kicking four goals, including three in the third quarter to drag his team back into the game.    

2. Saints battle down back
It wasn't just Riewoldt stretching the Saints backmen. Luke McGuane hit a purple patch in the second quarter opposed to Dylan Roberton, while Ty Vickery was important, playing on both Sam Fisher and Jason Blake. The Saints regained All Australians Sean Dempster (hamstring) and Fisher (foot) from injury, but they lacked height against the Tigers' big forwards. Rhys Stanley played forward for the Saints and was well held before moving back in the fourth quarter as a loose man.  

3. Cotchin cops treatment
The Saints couldn't contain Gold Coast star Gary Ablett last week, and they did everything possible to make sure Trent Cotchin didn't have a similar influence against them on Friday night. Cotchin, who was tagged by Clint Jones, was buffeted off the ball through the first half, winning free kicks because of the Saints' treatment on multiple occasions. The captain broke free in the third quarter to win 11 possessions and he finished with 31, breaking the 30-possession barrier for the sixth straight game. On the umpires, the Saints would not have been happy with the lopsided count for free kicks inside 50, which was 7-0 early in the fourth quarter.        

4. Blake's brain fade
Tasked with kicking in from a behind late in the third quarter, St Kilda's Jason Blake took a novel approach and handballed the ball out of the goalsquare. It was a tough night for the defender, moving between Riewoldt and Vickery, but it's hard to excuse the bizarre mistake. Fortunately for Blake, the ball was cleared from the resulting ball up and Richmond didn't score.

5. Tigers winning the close ones
Richmond lost six games by less than 13 points last season – including three by less than four – so Tiger fans were right to get the jitters again heading into the fourth quarter on Friday night. Ahmed Saad closed the margin to just four points early in the final term, but the Tigers steadied to go 2-0 for the first time since 1997. In their favour, St Kilda clearly ran out of run after a gruelling match on the Gold Coast and a six-day break.