The Lions’ 15.7 (97) to 10.11 (71) victory came on the back of a fabulous game from captain Jonathan Brown whose class stood out like a beacon on a gloomy Melbourne day.
Brown was clearly best afield with four goals but his triple premiership mates, Luke Power and Simon Black weren’t far behind him.
Daniel Bradshaw was also dangerous close to goal often getting the better of multiple opponents in marking contests.
Richmond would be shattered by the loss after leading by 25 points midway through the second term.
The Tigers kicked just one goal from the nine-minute mark of the second term until the 18-minute mark of the final term.
And that came from a free kick to Troy Simmonds in the goal square three seconds before three-quarter time.
It was a demoralising fall from grace punctuated by poor decisions and bad skills.
The loss leaves Richmond 1-6 and in all likelihood out of the race for another year.
The Lions on the other hand are in a great position at 4-3, but have a tough run ahead of them in the next month or so.
The match was amazing for the way it turned on its head and the Tigers lost control.
It was all Richmond from the opening bounce with the comeback kids Simmonds and Ben Cousins firing the first shots across the bow.
Simmonds approached each contest like a man playing for his career and was rewarded with the opening goal of the match while Cousins was gifted a goal when he was being dragged down after disposing of the ball.
It meant he was taken to the goalsquare for his first goal in Tiger stripes and soon after it was four goals to zip.
Cousins was the general in a dominant Richmond midfield and it took until the shadows of quarter-time for the Lions to get their first when Jared Brennan produced a bouncing snap out of the pack.
It cut the quarter-time margin to 19 points but the Tigers soon stretched that to 25 with a goals early in the second term.
But the Lions were beginning to find the answers and, at the 15-minute mark, Brown took the game by the scruff of the neck.
The Lions skipper often had to compete against two or more Tigers but was unstoppable in the lead up to half time.
He kicked two goals himself but, more importantly, altered the momentum of the contest with his fierce attack on the football.
Bradshaw also got two for the term and Brennan another to drive the Lions’ revival.
They tied up the match just before half-time and were down by just a solitary point at the long break.
The third term wasn’t one for the highlights reel with both sides flooding the defensive 50m arc and each side not moving the ball quickly enough to counter the tactic.
But both sides couldn’t be faulted for a lack of courage, especially Brisbane Lion Troy Selwood and Richmond’s Alex Rance.
Their head clash while going for a low ball on the member’s wing knocked both of them out cold.
Play was held up for four minutes while Rance was taken to Epworth Hospital for scans. Selwood stumbled groggily to his feet and went to the bench for the rest of the match.
The Lions won that third term two goals to one with the Tigers only goal coming from a free kick after the siren to Simmonds.
That was Richmond’s first goal since the nine-minute mark of the second term, a break of more than 50 minutes.
And it was a false dawn for Tigers fans.
The Lions slammed on five goals in the opening 12 minutes of the final term with Brown again the star.
His first goal was a beauty, gathering the ball near the wing before bouncing and running to 45m on the southern stand flank to nail the goal.
It ignited his teammates and they soon ended the contest with a flurry of goals.
Richmond 4.5 7.6 8.10 10.11 (71)
Brisbane Lions 1.4 7.5 9.7 15.7 (97)
GOALS
Richmond: Simmonds 4, Cousins, Deledio, White, Graham, Schulz, Nahas,
Brisbane Lions: Brown 4, Bradshaw 3, Rischitelli 2, Brennan 2, Harding, Black, Adcock, Sherman
BEST
Richmond: Graham, Foley, McGuane, Deledio, Simmonds
Brisbane Lions: Black, Brown, Power, Patfull, McDonald, Merrett
INJURIES
Richmond: Rance (concussion)
Brisbane Lions: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Kennedy, Findlay, Avon
Official crowd: 34.646 at MCG
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
