‘Tackle of the year!’: Young cub’s epic act sees Tigers down winless Eagles

The West Coast Eagles were on the brink of securing their first win of the season, but one Richmond youngster stood up when it mattered.

Richmond have overcome a huge scare on Sunday afternoon, edging out West Coast with a heart-stopping two-point win on Sunday afternoon that keeps Andrew McQualter’s Eagles winless in 2025.

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In a game that had an incredible 15 lead changes, a Tom Lynch behind with just under five minutes to go put the Tigers ahead by a singular point, before recently re-signed young gun Tom Brown sealed the result with a game-saving tackle on Eagles sub Tom Gross.

The final score read 11.15 (81) to West Coast’s 11.13 (79), securing Richmond’s third win of the year to separate themselves significantly from the bottom two teams on the ladder — North Melbourne and the Eagles.

In a showing of just how much this game meant to both sides, the pressure factor hit an extraordinary 252-249 in the last 10 minutes, ever so slightly led by Richmond.

The Tigers have now won seven of their last nine games over the Eagles, including five of their last six. West Coast remain without a win at the MCG since Round 8, 2021 — and will have to wait until at least next year to break that curse.

Tom Brown's game-saving tackle helped Richmond secure the win.

Star on-baller Tim Taranto was around the action all day for the hosts, collecting 27 disposals, seven clearances and a goal, while Tom Lynch looked prominent up forward for his 17 disposals and two goals. For West Coast, Jamie Cripps kicked three majors.

Both sides were dealt crucial blows inside the final hour leading up to the first bounce, with Oscar Allen and Jayden Short each withdrawn with separate knee issues. Harry Edwards and James Trezise were their respective replacements.

THE 3-2-1... (with Jack Jovanovski at the MCG)

3. TIGERS ‘GO TO WORK’ ON WEAKNESS, OVERCOME ‘DISAPPOINTING’ BLIP AMID 15 LEAD CHANGES

In a game that saw 15 lead changes throughout, the Tigers claimed an especially sweet third win of the season against a couple of departed ex-teammates and their former (interim) coach.

The Tigers couldn’t capitalise to a fuller extent on their forward-half territory dominance in the first quarter, despite recording eight more inside-50s and 15 more contested possessions.

“Based on the Tigers this season, their best contested possession differential (for a match) is +12. That’s what they’re riding at, at the moment. They’re certainly going the inside game,” Hawthorn great Ben Dixon said on Fox Footy in the first quarter.

At quarter-time, dual AFLW All-Australian Ruby Schleicher highlighted an area of the game Richmond ‘went to work on’ following its loss to Hawthorn last Sunday.

“That quarter really was dominated by Richmond and their back-half ball movement,” she said.

“Their ability to move the ball out of their back half, moving it at 67 per cent at the moment — the AFL average is 23 per cent — so (it’s) a massive amount.

“They’ve just got runners, they’re looking corridor, they’re looking to the fat side, and they have runners to go by.”

The Tigers held on in a blistering finish. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

The Tigers managed just 84 contested possessions for the match against the Hawks, but they already racked up 39 by quarter-time on Sunday.

“That’s a clear stat that Adem Yze has gone to work on, and they’re really doing it here,” Schleicher added.

But the home side took its foot off the gas pedal in the second term, letting the Eagles back into the contest amid nine lead changes.

At half-time, senior Richmond defender Nathan Broad said it was “disappointing” the way the Tigers allowed West Coast to make a run.

“Credit to them, they fought back, but (it was) disappointing by our group. We started really, really well, and then I think we just got too cute, to be honest.

“We went away from our system football and we let them back in it … just (about) playing the basics. Playing our system and our way. I think when we go away from that, it’s unpredictable for our team, and you see what happens — we let them back into the game.”

The Tigers struggled with the Eagles’ rising pressure around the ball in the third, with a classy Rhyan Mansell bouncing goal coming at a crucial point; against the run of play and to reduce their deficit to two points late in the third.

Then, Toby Nankervis marked deep inside the forward line and saluted to put the Tigers back in front.

It was heartbreak for the Eagles. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

“This game changes again!” exclaimed Fox Footy caller Corbin Middlemas as the home side took a four-point lead into the final change.

At three-quarter-time, Richmond had 47 more disposals than West Coast, 14 more contested possessions and 30 more uncontested — but four fewer inside-50s, 16 fewer tackles and nine fewer centre clearances.

Intriguingly, the Tigers under Adem Yze entered 0-26 when conceding more than 80 points, while they entered 4-1 when allowing less than that total.

Key forward Thomas Sims made his AFL debut on Sunday, lining up alongside spearhead Tom Lynch and fellow first-year attacker Jonty Faull.

Contested midfielder Kane McAuliffe was recalled for his first match of the season.

Rebounding defender Jayden Short was a late, late out due to injury, with James Trezise shifting into the 23 as the starting sub.

2. MCQUALTER’S EAGLES RECOVER FROM ‘DOMINANT’ TIGERS START... BUT STILL FALL JUST SHORT

In West Coast’s first and only MCG visit for the season, five Eagles played on the hallowed turf for the first time on Sunday — and while they were gallant in defeat, at the outset, Andrew McQualter’s men looked uncomfortable amid what is now an 11-game losing streak.

Richmond got to the ball first, winning at the source, and it took some time for the Eagles to get settled in the contest.

“The Eagles made the scoreline look a bit more favourable than it was,” Ruby Schleicher said at quarter-time as they trailed by only seven points.

But the visitors turned the tables in the second stanza, converting their stoppage dominance on the scoreboard in a topsy-turvy term where momentum swung by the minute.

“It’s been a tale of two quarters; we saw Richmond really dominate that first quarter ... but for West Coast, it’s their centre bounce (that has flexed),” Schleicher said at half-time.

“Centre clearances, they’ve got 10 — and they’ve scored seven times from centre bounce, which is their equal-best ever result from this source.

“I put it down to the personnel that are getting to work in there.

“Harley Reid’s getting involved in the plays; just getting on the move. He’s a big body, so making them take his body. If he’s not getting the ball, he’s getting the free kick.”

The Eagles had doubled Richmond’s centre-clearance number in the first half.

And after a relatively sluggish start to the second half, West Coast upped its pressure to an elite 213 to startle the Tigers, reducing the margin back to one point halfway through the third.

Trailing by four entering the final term, Harley Reid made it lead-change number 12 for the match with a long-range bomb to lift his side.

Reid lifted the Eagles. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Sunday afternoon represented McQualter’s first trip back to the MCG since his days as Richmond’s interim coach in 2023.

McQualter, whose Punt Road tenure spanned a decade, managed a 7-6 record during that time and was among those in consideration for the Tigers’ permanent gig.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever come to this venue on a bus, so that was a bit of a unique experience for me,” McQualter joked on Fox Footy pre-game.

And while McQualter is in familiar territory, but as the enemy, it’s the same situation for premiership Tigers Liam Baker and Jack Graham, who faced off against their old teammates for the first time since the pair made their way to West Coast last off-season.

Baker played in the 2019 and 2020 Richmond premiership triumphs, while Graham played in the 2017 and 2020 flag glories.

“They’ve played on the big stage here multiple times and played a lot of winning football over the years, so they’ve been really valuable … providing a level of leadership as well as their quality of play,” McQualter said on Sunday.

The Eagles withdrew Oscar Allen less than an hour before the first bounce due to a knee issue, who was replaced by Harry Edwards.

1. ‘MATE...’: GREAT’S STAGING WARNING TO TIGER… BUT EAGLE MUST BE ‘REALLY CAREFUL’

It was a match that featured former teammates and a clash between the two most recent No.1 draft picks, but an unexpected rivalry formed between Luke Trainor and Tyler Brockman.

First, Richmond’s first-year interceptor clattered late into a marking Brockman, giving away a 50-metre penalty — before Brockman retaliated with a hit to the back of Trainor, prompting a reversal from the umpire. It resulted in a Tigers goal.

A costly free kick reversal gifts the Tigers a goal 😬

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Later, an off-ball scuffle between the pair led to a high Brockman “jumper-punch” on Trainor.

“Just needs to settle down a little, here,” Dermott Brereton said of a fiery Brockman.

But at quarter-time, the Fox Footy commentary crew revisited the incident, with Brereton somewhat changing his tune as he cautioned Trainor.

“He’s just got to be really careful. It’s a bit of a jumper-punch, but … the umpire was 15 metres away looking at it — directly looking at it — and he took no punitive action whatsoever,” Brereton said.

“And, look, you don’t like to cast aspersions, but that’s the third time Trainor’s gone to ground on what seems a frivolous act in the one quarter.

“He (Brockman) definitely did something with him, it was a bit of a jumper shove-push … (but) what I would say is if I was an older teammate (of Trainor), I’d say ‘mate, keep your feet’.

“He’s a man. He’s playing league footy, open-age, AFL. Keep your feet.”

Ben Dixon said: “I agree with you on that one.”

Originally published as ‘Tackle of the year!’: Young cub’s epic act sees Tigers down winless Eagles