Richmond breathed some fire into their season by producing a fantastic performance which saw them down reigning premiers Geelong, under the lights, at the MCG.
Former Brownlow medallists Dusty Martin and Trent Cotchin, part of the Tigers’ treble winning premiership squad, rolled back the years by playing important roles.
It was also a landmark game for another member of that special group with midfielder Dion Prestia (pictured below), nicknamed “Meatball”, making his 200th AFL appearance.
Speaking on ground, post-match, to Channel 7, he said “To kind of back up what we did last week, the reigning Premier have been the benchmark for so long, it was a special win for sure.”
“I feel like we are kind of rolling, bit like we had in the premiership winning years, where we work out a few things and start to get the Richmond game back going.”
On the achievement, he added “I’d like to thank Gold Coast for giving me the opportunity – it taught me a lot about how to grow up and be an AFL player. I have got some unbelievable memories and friends from Gold Coast.”
“To have my family down in the rooms pre-game, to see a bit of a different side to how we get ready, never done that before; got a few mates from college here as well, so for sure we will have a few drinks to celebrate.”
Down in Tasmania, Port Adelaide had 14 different goalkickers on the scoresheet as they enjoyed a real day out by putting lowly North Melbourne to the sword.
All the build-up centred on the return of former No.1 Draft Pick (2021) Jason Horne-Francis who requested a move away from the Kangaroos, after just a year, so that he could return home to the state of South Australia and join the Power.
However, all the hype was a bit of anti-climax, aside of some booing from the home fans, and the 19-year-old (pictured below) will be glad to have got it out of the way and can move on.
The Western Bulldogs managed to hold off a late fightback from Carlton before running it out well to get over the line in what was rather low-scoring affair.
James O’Donnell (pictured below), signed as Category B Rookie last month, was given his Bulldogs debut having impressed in the reserves with Footscray. The 20-year-old defender is a third-generation VFL/AFL player, following grandfather Kevin and father Simon representing St Kilda during the 1940s and 1980s respectively.
All-Australian defender Steven May lined up for his 200th AFL start as Melbourne enjoyed a straight forward afternoon in taking care of bottom side Hawthorn.
The Demons led for the whole contest and, apart from a brief spell in the third, were rarely troubled enroute to making it four-in-a-row to stay amongst the frontrunners.
Fremantle secured its first victory in New South Wales since 2011 thanks to a strong showing that allowed them to get the job done against an out-of-form Sydney.
Lachie Schultz (pictured below) and Luke Jackson amongst the goals for the Dockers that put three figures up on the scoreboard, in consecutive matches, for the first time since 2016.
Speaking in the presser, coach Justin Longmuir said “It was really important that we build off last week and we kept on building on our contest work and our tackle pressure and I thought given who we played today, and that being a strength of theirs, I thought that went to another level.”
He went on “It is important, we want to be a consistent team, we understand that sometimes with young teams you can go up and down a little bit but we need to make sure that what we are giving them is consistent, our preparation is consistent and we think if we get those things right it will lead to consistent performances.”
Gold Coast secured their biggest ever winning margin on the road as they travelled interstate and hammered a woeful West Coast, on their home deck, by 70 points.
They kicked their highest scoring quarter, in the second, since 2017 which set them up to then go on and have a great evening as well as making a bit of club history.
Joe Daniher booted six majors, against his old mob, for a Brisbane side that produced a powerful second half to put away Essendon in convincing fashion.
It was at the other end, though, which proved the key to the success for the Lions where the duo of Harris Andrews and Ryan Lester starred in defence as they were able to keep the Bombers to easily their lowest score of the season (just 45 points).
Round 9 Results
Richmond 16.6 (102)
Geelong 11.12 (78)
West Coast 6.7 (43)
Gold Coast 16.17 (113)
Sydney 13.8 (86)
Fremantle 16.7 (103)
North Melbourne 10.5 (65)
Port Adelaide 20.15 (135)
Hawthorn 7.7 (49)
Melbourne 15.13 (103)
Brisbane 12.15 (87)
Essendon 6.9 (45)
Carlton 8.11 (59)
Western Bulldogs 11.13 (79)
Related links
- Stay up to date with all the latest news via the official afl.com.au website.
- Footy Feed (daily look at the breaking news and analysis)
- AFL Daily (podcast that sets the agenda on footy’s biggest stories)
- AFL Exchange (podcast that gives an entertaining take on the latest football developments)
- Access All Areas (reviewing the matches and main talking points from the weekend)
- Gettable (dedicated to trade, draft and free agency news)
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