AFL Richmond v Gold Coast: Scores and news out of the Round 15 clash between the Tigers and Suns

Richmond could tumble out of the eight after another shock defeat to a non-finals side and coach Damien Hardwick is at a loss to explain his side’s lost confidence.

Chris Cavanagh and Ronny Lerner

6 min read

July 2, 2021 - 7:00AM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

Trent Cotchin and the Tigers lament another shock loss. Picture: Michael Klein

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Reigning premier Richmond has sunk into a deepening hole and is now facing an uphill battle just to play finals this year after suffering a third-straight loss to the lowly Gold Coast Suns.

Just days after coach Damien Hardwick gave a backhander to “newsmakers” looking for “big headlines” and writing off the Tigers this season, his team only fuelled the fire with a horror 10-point defeat to the struggling Suns.

Richmond looked a shadow of the side it has been in recent seasons as it was soundly beaten in almost every facet of the game and failed in a last-quarter bid to run over the top of Gold Coast.

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Trent Cotchin and the Tigers lament another shock loss. Picture: Michael Klein

A deflated coach Damien Hardwick conceded confidence was low among his team and there were multiple areas of the game where things were not working.

“Confidence is a very funny thing within AFL. You can quickly gain it; you can quickly lose it,” Hardwick said.

“Our boys are lacking confidence at the moment, which is surprising. When they play their very best we’re a great footy side. Unfortunately at the moment, our players are struggling.

“When you lack confidence you’re one step behind. Instead of being proactive you are reactive. So we just have to build them up and get them better.

“We’re not playing our very best footy. I still have a firm belief we’re not too far off it, but we certainly have a lot of work to do.”

Back to the drawing board for Dimma and the Tigers. Picture: Getty Images

The Tigers now hold a 7-8 record and have left the door to the top-eight ajar for a chasing pack of sides including Fremantle, Greater Western Sydney, Essendon and St Kilda.

They could slip to as low as 11th spot on the ladder by the end of the round.

Richmond faces games against Collingwood, Brisbane, Geelong and Fremantle over the next month as what was touted as a favourable second half of the season quickly looks daunting.

Hardwick again dismissed suggestions that the hunger was lacking within his playing group after three premierships in the past four years but conceded the Suns were tougher in the contest.

Gold Coast won the contested ball count 146-130 and toppled the Tigers in clearances 36-30.

“The contested stuff is down,” Hardwick said.

“Our post-clearance balls is the one probably struggling at the moment. The contest on contest stuff — in fairness, Gold Coast were outstanding tonight.

“Their hunger in and around the contest was good, their pressure outside the contest was very good. They looked a side probably similar to us, in fairness, and they replicate a brand that certainly looked like us and played accordingly.”

But Richmond were also let down by a few undisciplined acts from veteran defenders Nick Vlastuin and Dylan Grimes in the first quarter and on the half-time siren respectively, which gifted goals to the Suns from the goal square.

“It’s disappointing but I think we’re probably seeing a little bit of a trend across the AFL where the retaliator seems to get pinged a fair bit at the moment – it’s not something that I’d like the game to (allow) creep in,” Hardwick said.

“But our boys have got to be better to be fair. Lashing out, we know it doesn’t help, it just gives away a free kick.

“It’s something we’ve got to eradicate from our game because it’s certainly cost us probably this year more so than ever.”

It was just Gold Coast’s fifth win of the season and first triumph over Richmond since 2014.

The Tigers’ loss followed a 40-point defeat to St Kilda in Round 15, in which the Tigers kicked just two goals for the match.

Before a Round 14 bye, the Tigers had fallen to West Coast by four points.

Richmond forward Callum Coleman-Jones suffered a calf injury and was subbed out at half-time, adding to an already long injury list.

The Suns put the clamps on Dusty and the Tigers. Picture: Michael Klein

CHANGING OF THE GUARD: IS TIGERS DYNASTY OVER?

Richmond’s three-peat dream is in tatters.

In the clearest indication yet that the Tigers’ dynasty has come to an end, Damien Hardwick’s side reached the nadir of their recent golden run on Thursday night – slumping to an embarrassing 10-point defeat to Gold Coast. Damningly for the Tigers, the margin would’ve been bigger had the Suns not missed a host of straightforward shots on goal.

The Karmichael Hunt debacle of 2012 might’ve been the low point of Hardwick’s 12-year reign at Richmond, but their one-time bogey team returned to haunt them at Marvel Stadium with a vengeance, delivering a hammer blow which could see them drop out of the top eight this week.

Touk Miller found a mountain of the footy for the Suns. Picture: Getty Images

Just when you thought Richmond couldn’t sink any lower after registering their lowest score in 60 years against the battling Saints last week, the reigning back-to-back premiers ‘outdid’ themselves with a timid, listless and meek performance, as they failed to overcome the bottom-three Suns who lost to wooden spoon favourites North Melbourne last week.

Richmond’s foot skills, especially from some of their most reliable ball users, were as bad as they’ve been in the past five years, and their usually well-drilled backline made numerous uncharacteristic errors while giving their opponents too much room on too many occasions.

Not even the huge leg-up of having the game switched from Metricon Stadium to Marvel Stadium could save Richmond. In fact, the hungry Suns played as if it was truly a “home game” as they out-hunted, out-hassled and out-pressured their more fancied opponents to convincingly win the disposals (360-319), marks (120-57), inside 50s (64-42), contested possessions (145-131), tackles (65-48), scoring shots (27-17) and clearances (34-31).

Only Gold Coast’s poor goalkicking kept the Tigers in the game for most of the night, and even though Richmond came at the Suns with a burst late in the second quarter and five of six goals either side of three-quarter time, Gold Coast responded each time with their grit and determination ensuring one of the biggest upsets of the season.

MILLER THE MAGNIFICENT

Touk Miller set the tone for the Suns with a sensational first quarter that saw him record 13 disposals (four contested), three marks, five handball-receives and two clearances (one centre). He finished up with 36 touches (15 contested), seven marks, seven tackles, nine clearances (five centre), 424 metres gained and six score involvements to once again be Gold Coast’s best player. Jack Lukosius was also huge with 24 disposals and a game-high 10 marks – including a crucial intercept with 3:30 left in the game. A couple of minutes later, Ben King sealed the deal with his fourth major.

Big forward Ben King had a night out for the Suns. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

TIGERS GIFT SUNS GOALS

On a night when the Suns were really struggling to kick goals, the Tigers backline gave them a few gimmes courtesy of some woeful acts of ill-discipline. Early in the first term, Nick Vlastuin made Josh Corbett’s first goal a certainty when he gave away a 50m penalty after the Suns forward marked 30m out, and on the halftime siren, Dylan Grimes inexplicably threw Ben Ainsworth to the ground to hand Gold Coast another gift-wrapped present. It was totally unnecessary because Brandon Ellis had pumped the ball in from outside 50m and it would’ve almost certainly been killed by the big pack.

RANKINE GETS AWAY WITH ONE

Lucky Izak Rankine backs his ability because it could’ve ended very badly for him late in the third quarter when he decided to take advantage after a teammate was awarded a free kick 25m out directly in front of goal. Rather than stop play, Rankine ran onto the loose ball and with the outside of his right boot, soccered through a sensational six-pointer to put the Suns up by nine points. It was a very high-risk, low-percentage move, but all’s well ends well.