Richmond flip AFL world on head in shock upset of Geelong Cats at MCG

The AFL has been flipped on its head, with the Richmond Tigers turning back the clock in a stunning victory no one saw coming.

The AFL world has been treated to one of the season’s biggest upsets with a Richmond performance that turned the clock back to the halcyon days of yellow and black dominance, running over a Geelong side that had been taking all before them after a slow start to the season.

The Tigers ran out 16.6 (102) to 11.12 (78) winners over the Cats, with Dustin Martin kicking two goals in the fourth quarter and imposing the dominance on the competition that made him a three-time Norm Smith Medallist.

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An undermanned Geelong side headed into the game without Patrick Dangerfield (hamstring), Cam Guthrie (toe), Sam De Koning (face), Tyson Stengle (arm), Gary Rohan (hamstring), Jack Henry (foot), Rhys Stanley (eye), Brad Close (suspension) and Jack Bowes (calf), and it proved too much for them to deal with.

The result snapped the Cats’ five-game winning streak and saw the Tigers secure back-to-back wins for the first time this year.

Dustin Martin was dominant for the Tigers with a game-high 4 goals. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Richmond supporters had pencilled in Friday night’s match in their calendars the moment the fixture was released late last year.

It served as another chance for them to express their displeasure with Tom Stewart after his ugly hit on Tigers midfielder Dion Prestia the last time these two teams met – Stewart was loudly and passionately booed by the 58,000-strong crowd.

The incident saw the Geelong defender cop a four-match suspension at the time, and almost a year later, he was reminded of the nasty clash every time he touched the ball as he was greeted with a chorus of jeers at the MCG.

After successfully undergoing their catharsis, the Richmond fans had extra cause for celebration as their team upset reigning premiers Geelong by 24 points, 16.6 (102) to 11.12 (78).

The Cats led the clearances 26-10 at one stage, and finished up winning that category convincingly 48-31, but were uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball going forward, and without Dangerfield or Guthrie, their midfield lacked direction and polish.

Geelong also finished with more disposals (357-343), contested possessions (148-130), inside 50s (57-56) and scoring shots (23-22), but their frequent skill errors and woeful accuracy early (4.11) brought them undone. Richmond’s pressure was hot all night, and they comfortably won the tackle count 63-46.

Daniel Rioli was the firestarter for the Tigers, sparking them in the first half and finishing with 23 disposals and a goal, while Nathan Broad (19 touches) got the better of Geelong superstar Jeremy Cameron (21) who found the ball, but gathered most of those disposals high up the ground and didn’t have his usual impact.

Isaac Smith kicked a brilliant goal from the pocket early in the half. Pic: Michael Klein

Noah Balta recovered from an early couple of Tom Hawkins goals to convincingly blanket the reigning All-Australian captain, and champion duo Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin produced their best games of the year, booting four and three goals respectively to cause havoc up forward.

Richmond’s win came at a cost, though, with Jacob Hopper subbed out late in the third quarter with a calf injury.

Weight of statistical numbers continued to favour Geelong and looked set to overwhelm Richmond whose lead was whittled down to four points early in the second period after a pair of spectacular snap shots from Ollie Henry and Isaac Smith.

But inaccuracy and critical turnovers continued to undermine the Cats’ endeavours and as a result, the Tigers were able to push their buffer back out to 24 points late in the third term despite having fewer scoring shots (16-17).

Composure from young Cat Ollie Dempsey, sets up a goal for Isaac Smith.

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Geelong’s backline was placed under enormous pressure and after Richmond kicked the opening three goals of the final quarter to shoot out to a game-high 36-point lead, the result was sealed.

The best example of Richmond’s tenacious mindset came early in the final quarter.

They were enjoying a big 30-point lead at that stage, but they were in no mood to give Geelong an inch,

Sam Simpson handballed it to Henry in the goalsquare, but the former Magpie barely had a chance to gather the pill as he was ferociously gang-tackled by four Tigers, rendering him helpless.

Daniel Rioli told media after the game it was “good to have that flow” that had been missing from the Tigers’ season so far.

“We knew that Geelong wanted to use that ball, be composed, use that flow,” Rioli said.

Two of the modern-day greats give each other one hell of a gift!

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Veteran midfielder Trent Cotchin called it “reward for effort”.

“It was probably a little bit of reward for effort, we knew we’ve been building towards this and what better stage than to beat the Cats,” Cotchin told Abbey Holmes.

Asked about Dion Prestia, playing his 200th game, Cotchin was glowing in his praise.

“The general public don’t see the amount of work he does behind the scenes, the amount of film work and reviewing games, but also his workrate in games is second to none,” he said.

Dustin Martin echoed his sentiments, saying Prestia was “just a great person.”

“Really happy we can do it for him tonight,” he said.

On Fox Footy, Garry Lyon called it a “really get your hands dirty kind of win,” while former Hawthorn defender Jordan Lewis said he was impressed with Richmond’s pressure.

“The thing that really impressed me about Richmond is they never let up,” Lewis said.

While the two sides have a well-documented modern rivalry, Jack Riewoldt and Tom Hawkins were seen swapping autographed jumpers in a touching gesture of sportsmanship after the game.

– with NCA NewsWire