Round 18, 1996 - Richmond vs Brisbane

Brisbane have handed Richmond a 17-point defeat, in a loss that could have catastrophic implications for the Tigers' final hopes.

The Tigers looked all at sea early, going goalless in the first term which proved to be the difference maker in the end, eventually falling to the Bears 7.11 (53) to 9.16 (70)

The Bears were too good for Richmond.

While the Tigers still clung to 8th position at the end of the round, it meant that it was going to come down to who could finish the season stronger out of Richmond and Hawthorn to book a finals berth.

Richmond had lost its sharpshooter forward Nick Daffy during the week to a hand injury, and would have to find other avenues to goal if they were to be successful.

Brisbane debuted tall forward Daniel Bradshaw, while young Tiger tall Ben Holland found himself down in defence, which was a rare sighting.

The rain came down early at Optus Oval and steadily became heavier and heavier and by 15 minutes into the first quarter, it was absolutely bucketing down along with a howling wind.

You would have thought that those conditions wouldn't have suited Brisbane, but they would prove otherwise putting in a dominant opening term.

Such was the Bears dominance, they had the first nine scoring shots of the game, and luckily for Richmond, only three of those were goals.

At quarter time, the Brisbane lead was 29 points, with the Tigers only registering one behind for the quarter.

As the rain and wind continued, the game turned into quite the dour affair, with neither side able to register a goal in the second quarter, meaning that Richmond would remarkably end the first half goalless.

There really were no redeeming features for the Tigers in that first half, which came as a real shock and disappointment to their fans in what was a crucial game for their finals hopes.

After halftime, the rain had subsided a bit, as Richmond began the arduous task of trying to work their way back from a goalless first half.

They made small inroads after booting two quick goals through Merenda and Rogers, but the Bears weren't about to back down and quickly kicked two more themselves.

When Robbie Powell goaled early in the fourth quarter, the Tigers had the margin back to 14 points and gave themselves a sniff, but the combination of a couple more Bears goals and a very stoppage heavy last term meant that the deficit was just too much to reel in.

One player who had a dirty day was star forward Matthew Richardson, who had just three kicks and held goalless by Richard Champion.

Such was the bad day for Richo that he was eventually dragged by coach Robert Walls halfway through the final term, to some cheers of the crowd which was a harsh reception for a man who had done amazing things since returning from his ACL injury.

David Bourke was one of the few Tigers who could hold his head high, while the disposal count of 13 was modest, his attack on the footy and ability to get things moving for his side was impressive given his slight frame.

Matthew Rogers was another young Tiger who tried hard all day, but Richmond's winners on the ground were few and far between.

Brendon Gale notched up his 150th AFL career goal with was the only real highlight that Tigers fans could walk away from this match with.

Stats for the game courtesy of AFL Tables

A Fighting Fury player ratings - click here for explanation

David Bourke	6
Matthew Rogers	5
Paul Broderick	4
Duncan Kellaway	4
Matthew Knights	4
Brendon Gale	4
Chris Naish	4
Darren Gaspar	4
Robbie Powell	4
Mark Merenda	3
Paul Bulluss	3
Wayne Campbell	3
Chris Sullivan	3
Justin Charles	2
Michael Gale	2
Chris Bond	2
Ben Moore	2
Jamie Tape	1
Matthew Richardson	0
Damien Ryan	0
Ben Holland	0