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Tigers bounce back to thump Collingwood

Richmond rebounded from their poor start to the AFL pre-season with a polished 48-point win over Collingwood.

The Tigers broke clear at the start of the last quarter and won 1.17.13 (124) to 1.10.7 (76) in front of a capacity crowd of 11,000 on a perfect Saturday afternoon at the Wangaratta Showgrounds.

It was a vastly-improved performance after their upset loss earlier this month to Melbourne.

The only setback was a lower-leg injury to defender Jake Batchelor, who limped from the field at half-time.

Small forward Jake King did not play in the first half and had a quiet game after media scrutiny late this week.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou and Port Adelaide president David Koch criticised King for his ongoing friendship with bikie figure Toby Mitchell.

Brett Deledio dominated across half-forward for Richmond and Dustin Martin was outstanding in his new role off half-back.

Key forward Tyrone Vickery and captain Trent Cotchin kicked four goals apiece.

Newcomer Sam Lloyd and Matt Arnot impressed as they try to force their way into Richmond’s round-one team.

Holding a 17-point lead, the Tigers sent the ball deep into attack at the start of the final term.

A cruel bounce caught out Collingwood defender Jack Frost and Aaron Edwards kicked an easy goal to effectively decide the match.

The Tigers kicked another four unanswered goals as the Magpies fell away sharply in the last quarter.

Ben Reid starred for Collingwood with five goals and fellow key forward Travis Cloke kicked three, while new captain Scott Pendlebury was impressive through the midfield.

Newcomer Tom Langdon had an eye-catching game off half-back.

After Reid kicked the first goal in the second minute, Collingwood paid for a couple of defensive errors as Richmond put them on the back foot.

Magpies ruckman Brodie Grundy also gave away a silly free kick and 50m penalty as he lost his temper.

The Tigers were always going to bounce back from their poor first-up performance and they doubled Collingwood’s score for an 18-point lead at quarter-time.

Ben Griffiths kicked the opening goal of the second term and Richmond were on the verge of breaking the game open.

But Collingwood lifted, with star onballer Luke Ball noticeably busier around the stoppages.

A goal to Cloke and two to Reid reduced the margin to six points, before Arnot’s supergoal relieved the pressure for Richmond.

The Tigers kicked two of the last three goals in the half to lead by 21 at the main break.

Collingwood rallied and reduced the margin to five points 11 minutes into the third term, but the Tigers steadied with the last two goals of the quarter.

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