Round 14, 1996 - Richmond vs West Coast

West Coast have solidified their top four spot on the AFL ladder with an impressive win in the wet against Richmond at the MCG.

The Tigers got the jump on the Eagles early, but the visitors booted seven goals to two in trying conditions after quarter time to record the 10.8 (68) to 7.9 (51) victory.

Chris Bond looks downfield against the Eagles

Such was the Eagles dominance, the Tigers managed just 1.5 after halftime, and while they still clung to eighth spot on the ladder, it did put them square back in the pack.

As mentioned, Richmond started well in this contest, getting out to a 17-point lead 20 minutes into the game, but then the rain came, and Richmond's great early play soon dried up.

Teenager Damien Ryan had a big challenge ahead of him on a wing against Eagles superstar Chris Mainwaring, but acquitted himself and had a number of great moments particularly in the first half.

With light becoming an issue, the lights went on at the MCG during the second term, as the Eagles soon gained the ascendancy and then the lead.

Richmond had plenty of opportunities during the third quarter, but squandered almost all of them, including at least three shots on goal that didn't even register a score, two of these easy misses were from Brendon Gale, who other than his finishing, was having a great game despite the wet conditions.

When Justin Charles limped off the ground midway through the final term, it more or less spelled the end of a Tiger comeback, and even more so when you consider that neither team was able to muster a goal in the fourth.

For the Tigers, it probably was the aforementioned Charles who was their best, competing well around the ground creating contests, even if he didn't blow the statisticians away with his output in this one.

Fellow tall Brendon Gale was also remarkable in the air but as mentioned, some terrible shots on goal ended up curtailing his influence, and from there, there weren't many other Tigers who could say that had great games in this one.

One interesting matchup was that of Duncan Kellaway on first-year phenom Ben Cousins. While Cousins spent some time on the bench and managed just 7 disposals, he did kick two pretty key goals to show that he would be a star of the future.

One milestone for the day was utility Matthew Rogers booting his 50th career goal, after just 56 matches.

But perhaps the biggest milestone, was that it would be the last AFL game for ruckman, Greg Dear. The true workhorse played 53 games for Richmond across three seasons, after having a very successful career at Hawthorn.

Stats for the game courtesy of AFL Tables

A Fighting Fury player ratings - click here for explanation

Justin Charles	7
Brendon Gale	6
Darren Gaspar	5
Matthew Rogers	5
Chris Naish	5
Paul Broderick	4
Matthew Richardson	4
Wayne Campbell	4
Michael Gale	4
Jamie Tape	3
Duncan Kellaway	3
Greg Dear	3
Mark Merenda	3
Ashley Prescott	2
Nick Daffy	2
Nathan Bower	1
David Bourke	1
Chris Bond	1
Damien Ryan	1
Ben Harrison	0
Chris Sullivan	0