GEELONG has put together a dominant performance against a young Richmond side, thrashing the Tigers by 72 points on Saturday afternoon at GMHBA Stadium.

The Cats had 10 individual goalkickers, with the floodgates opening up after quarter-time when Geelong kicked 15 goals to the Tigers' six to win 18.16 (124) to 7.10 (52) in front of a crowd of 31,060.

CATS v TIGERS Full match coverage and stats

They did it without star midfielder Bailey Smith, who was a late out due to illness and was replaced by Jack Bowes.

It was a slow start, and while there wasn't a lot happening on the field, there was plenty happening on the Richmond bench. Devastatingly, No.1 pick Sam Lalor was the first to come from the ground, grabbing at his left hamstring after applying a tackle to Tom Atkins on the wing.

Lalor injured the same hamstring six weeks earlier and was subbed out of the game at the seven-minute mark of the first term with what looked to be a significant injury.

Shortly after Lalor came to the bench, Richmond's medical staff were under the pump as Jasper Alger, Tom Brown and veteran Kamdyn McIntosh joined their teammate on the sidelines. Thankfully, all three returned to the game, despite looking a bit worse for wear. 

The temporarily undermanned Tigers kept up with Geelong initially and had 17 inside 50s to 12 in the first quarter. But it was Geelong which was more damaging with its forward entries, with Patrick Dangerfield, Jeremy Cameron and Bowes all hitting the scoreboard, while for the Tigers their only major came through a well-executed snap from Rhyan Mansell on the boundary. 

Chris Scott, who coached his 350th game, may have asked his players to lift at the quarter-time break, as the Cats came out firing in the second term. Crafty small forward Gryan Myers' influence increased, as did mature-aged recruit Shaun Mannagh's, as the Cats piled on 10 unanswered goals. To the delight of Cats fans, one of those goals came through debutant George Stevens, who slotted his first career goal from a set shot.

The crowd was on Jezza watch with Cameron looking to kick his 700th AFL goal. But in true Cameron fashion, he kept the crowd guessing, missing a number of opportunities before finally reaching the milestone midway through the third term.

Tiger Hugo Ralphsmith became the second Richmond player to injure their hamstring, icing his leg on the bench in the last quarter when the sting was well and truly out of the game. Both Geelong and the Tigers added three goals apiece in the last quarter, making it Richmond's best quarter of the match with Maurice Rioli jnr, Toby Nankervis and Tom Brown hitting the scoreboard.

Lalor's hamstring horrors
Young Richmond gun Sam Lalor played less than three minutes in the Saturday afternoon clash, limping from the ground clutching at his left hamstring after applying a tackle on Geelong's Tom Atkins. Lalor tried to play on, but the youngster couldn't manage to jog more than a few steps, and as a result was subbed out of the game. Lalor injured the same hamstring in the Dreamtime at the 'G match against Essendon in round 11.

Cameron reaches 700 career goals
It could have come earlier in the match, but Jeremy Cameron reached the milestone of 700 career goals midway through the third quarter. Cameron also kicked five behinds, but reached the milestone as he finished the game with four goals next to his name. Cameron kicked 427 goals at Greater Western Sydney where he started his career, and 273 at the Cats. Cameron now sits equal 26th for goals all-time, and leads this year's Coleman Medal race.

GEELONG            3.3     11.9     15.13     18.16 (124)  
RICHMOND         1.2     2.4        4.6         7.10 (52)  

GOALS
Geelong: Cameron 4, Neale 3, Dangerfield 2, Close 2, Bowes 2, Stevens, Martin, Mannagh, Holmes, Henry
Richmond: Mansell 3, Rioli, Nankervis, Faull, Brown

BEST
Geelong: Miers, Holmes, Cameron, Dangerfield, Guthrie
Richmond: Mansell, Hopper, Taranto, Rioli, Campbell, Faull

INJURIES
Geelong: Nil
Richmond: Lalor (hamstring), Ralphsmith (hamstring)

LATE CHANGES
Geelong: Bailey Smith (illness) replaced by Jack Bowes
Richmond: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Geelong: Mitch Duncan (unused)
Richmond: Maurice Rioli jnr (replaced Sam Lalor in the first quarter)

Crowd: 31,060 at GMHBA Stadium