1. Warm-up woes
As North Melbourne tragic Tim Rogers entertained the crowd at Blundstone Arena and both sides undertook their final preparations in the rooms, Richmond defender Dylan Grimes tweaked a hammy and forced the Tigers into the latest of late, late changes. So late, in fact, that Tigers emergency Troy Chaplin was no longer prepared to play and couldn’t make it to the bench until nearly 10 minutes had elapsed in the opening term. As it happened, and as if losing Grimes wasn’t bad enough, Chaplin eventually ran onto the ground as Steven Morris went the other way on a stretcher after suffering a suspected ACL tear to his right knee, meaning the Tigers could muster no more than 21 fit players at any point.

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2. A Friday night to forget
Things got even worse for Richmond when Nick Vlastuin was forced from the field after failing a concussion test at half-time following a heavy collision with North forward Jarrad Waite during the second term. With just two on the bench and the Kangaroos in full control during the third quarter, the Tigers were in dire straits. Then, to rub salt into an already gaping wound, Ben Griffiths left the field on a stretcher after injuring himself in a marking contest at half-back. Facing a 51-point deficit and well over a quarter with just one fit player on the bench, the Tigers could scarcely have dreamed up a more nightmarish scenario for a night out in Hobart. 

3. Wheels off after half-time
The way North took over during the opening 10 minutes of the third term, you could have been forgiven for thinking the rest of the Tigers team had joined Vlastuin in a tracksuit on the pine. In a matter of minutes, the Roos had piled on five majors to not only shut the gate on Richmond, but to practically embarrass them. It took the Tigers almost 15 minutes to record their first forward entry for the quarter, from which Ty Vickery was able to goal, but in that time the Roos had racked up a dozen and kicked well clear. For Richmond fans it might even have felt like a terrible case of déjà vu having seen the Tigers give up seven-goals-to-one during a decisive third quarter in last season’s fixture in Tassie.

4. No Goldy but Daw stands up
While nobody could have seen the injury carnage coming, it was little surprise to see Todd Goldstein struck off the Kangaroos’ team sheet pre-game given the doubt surrounding his fitness following a knock last week. Majak Daw was drafted in to take on the primary ruck duties and battled manfully against in-form Tiger Shaun Hampson. Despite Daw’s physicality and athleticism, by half-time, Hampson had racked up 24 hit-outs to Daw's nine and the Tigers led the clearance count by 25-14. Unfortunately for Richmond, however, Hampson was one of few who could claim to be winning his individual match-up and the Kangas still led by 25 points at the long break. To his credit, Daw worked his way into the contest and finished with 19 hit-outs, five tackles, four centre clearances and a clever snap to goal during the third-quarter onslaught.

How the fans saw it: North Melbourne v Richmond

5. Roos celebrate deal with the island state
Richmond fans that left Blundstone Arena early could easily be forgiven, such was the nature of the hiding handed out by the Roos during the second half. But while they were present, they were part of a record crowd of 17,844 on hand to witness the first Friday night match to be played in Tasmania. While North's playing group might have been motivated by coach Brad Scott’s absence through illness, the club could hardly have dreamed up a better way to celebrate their new deal to play three games a year in Hobart through until the end of the 2021 season. The percentage boosting victory guarantees their place atop the AFL ladder for another week and sees them firm in calculations to go deep into the finals again in 2016.