RICHMOND'S horror winless start to the season has continued with a 75-point thumping at the hands of North Melbourne.

The Roos are a clear step ahead of the inaccurate Tigers, leading for all but a handful of minutes at the start of the game, and put the foot down in the second half to coast to the 20.9 (130) to 7.13 (55) victory.

KANGAROOS v TIGERS Full match coverage and stats

Adding insult to Richmond's already lengthy injury list, Sam Banks' day ended in the opening five minutes of the match, seriously damaging his collarbone after landing awkwardly in a tackle, while Maurice Rioli pinged a hamstring in a second term that saw the Tigers limp to a 2.12 tally at the main break.

By the time acting skipper Tim Taranto was ruled out with concussion in the third term with the Tigers trailing by 51, it had reached 'if you don't laugh, you'll cry' territory.

Harry Sheezel (39 disposals) and Colby McKercher (26) were simply superb across the ground, making sharp decisions and pulling off tough kicks to open up play, and Richmond's two rotations on the bench after half-time caught up with the remaining fit players.

McKercher in particular thrived under the roof, turning on the jets on a number of occasions to burst clear of his opponents, proving a clear difference between the teams, while veterans Luke Parker and Caleb Daniel distributed at will from the backline.

Paul Curtis took full advantage of North Melbourne's deepening forward line in the first term, and it was a sign of things to come.

With all Richmond defensive eyes on Nick Larkey, Jack Darling and new favourite Cooper Trembath (who pulled in a now-customary mark of the week nomination in the fourth), the high-marking small bobbed up to kick three first-quarter goals and finished with six for the game.

The Tiger inaccuracy kicked off in the first quarter proved contagious, with growing pressure to be one to break the goal drought adding more mental demons to every attempted goal, in an agonising spiral in perfect closed-roof conditions.

It appeared Steely Green had stopped the rot with a sharp snap, but that was declared the team's 12th behind, with just one goal on the board. Campbell finally broke through just before half-time, with eight behinds having been kicked since his first major.

North Melbourne led by 39 points at the main break, despite having one fewer scoring shot in that time, and finished with 11 different goal-kickers.

The long-suffering North Melbourne fans were in party mode, celebrating a rare thumping victory as their players dobbed goals from every angle with absolute ease, including an absolute pearler from former skipper Jy Simpkin on a sharp angle in the second term.

Noah Balta was thrown forward in the third term, pushing Jonty Faull into defence in an attempt to get the young tall into the game after a few lean weeks 

Zurhaar the defender?
Forward Cam Zuurhaar was shifted to defence with great effect, generating plenty of run off half-back and reading the ball well overhead. Usually a last-resort move when a forward is trying to resurrect their career, Zurhaar appears to have been simply squeezed out of North Melbourne's well-balanced attack. His prominence faded over the game as the ball stayed in the Roos' front half, but the move looks to be a winner for Alastair Clarkson.

The need for speed
A common refrain from frustrated Richmond supporters has been the comparatively slow nature of the senior midfield brigade. With Jacob Hopper managed, the slightly quicker Kane McAuliffe saw more inside time, as did pacey draftee Sam Grij and Sam Lalor, who had a few nice moments to be Richmond's best on a tough day. Hugo Ralphsmith and debutant Pat Retschko patrolled the wings, and while the overall outfit was more dynamic, they were eventually out-muscled by North Melbourne's older midfield brigade.

NORTH MELBOURNE          5.3     10.3     14.8     20.10 (130)
RICHMOND                         1.7     2.12    4.12     7.13 (55)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Curtis 6, Trembath 3, Larkey 2, Duursma 2, Spargo, Davies-Uniacke, Stephens, Darling, McKercher, Powell, Sheezel
Richmond: Campbell 2, Ross 2, Lalor, Balta, Green

BEST
North Melbourne: Sheezel, McKercher, Wardlaw, Curtis, Davies-Uniacke, Parker
Richmond: Lalor, Prestia, McAuliffe, Ross, Grlj, Short

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Richmond: Banks (collarbone), Rioli (hamstring), Taranto (concussion)

Crowd: 36,584 at Marvel Stadium