Round 17, 1996 - Richmond vs Hawthorn

Richmond have rebounded back onto the winners list in style, picking up a resounding 41-point win at Optus Oval to keep their finals chances alive.

After a tight opening term, the Tigers steadily built their advantage over the next three quarters to record a 17.12 (114) to 11.7 (73) victory.

Matthew Knights looks downfield for the Tigers.

The win meant the Tigers would still cling to eighth spot at the end of the round, and with only five rounds to play, every clash became a mini final for the yellow and black.

The game would see the debut of Joel Bowden, son of Tigers premiership player Michael, after impressing in the Reserves.

One player who was on fire early was Hawthorn champion Jason Dunstall. The spearhead kicked three goals on Darren Gaspar in the opening 12 minutes of the game and didn't look like age was slowing him down at all.

He would not only be matched, but bettered, by the ever present Matthew Richardson though. 'Richo' looked dominant right from the jump, and by halftime already had five goals to his name.

The battle at both ends would come to a screeching halt however, when Dunstall limped from the ground with a bad looking knee injury. He gave it another go later in the match, but clearly wasn't right and finished the game on the bench.

Richmond lost Nick Daffy late in the contest with what appeared to be a hand injury, which would unfortunately rule him out for the next four weeks.

The Tigers continued to heap the pressure on the Hawks, with it even coming from the most unlikely of places with a Richardson run down tackle leading to a Tiger goal.

With Dunstall severely hampered, Hawthorn had lost their firepower and Richmond were able to run out as comfortable winners by the final siren.

While he didn't scoop the 3 Brownlow votes, Richardson was arguably Richmond's best, booting an accurate 7.3 to go along with 13 marks and 22 disposals.

The man who did pick up the three votes, Chris Bond, wasn't far behind the Tigers spearhead though, collecting an impressive 32 disposals and a goal in a great four quarter effort.

Mark Merenda continued his breakout season with 25 disposals and a goal, while Brendon Gale was the other key tall for Richmond to terrorise the Hawthorn defence, with four goals, 11 marks and 17 disposals.

Stats for the game courtesy of AFL Tables

A Fighting Fury player ratings - click here for explanation

Matthew Richardson	13
Chris Bond	9
Mark Merenda	9
Brendon Gale	8
Robbie Powell	7
Matthew Rogers	6
Nick Daffy	6
Matthew Knights	6
Paul Broderick	5
Darren Gaspar	5
Justin Charles	4
David Bourke	4
Michael Gale	4
Chris Naish	4
Paul Bulluss	4
Wayne Campbell	4
Ben Moore	3
Duncan Kellaway	2
Ben Holland	2
John Howat	1
Joel Bowden	0