Round 9, 1995 - Sydney vs Richmond

Richmond are back on the winners list, overpowering Sydney on their home deck to record a 26-point win on a day that was unfortunately marred by injury.

While the 17.14 (116) to 14.6 (90) win shot Richmond to the very top of the ladder, it came at a huge cost, with young star Matthew Richardson injuring his ACL, and shining recruit Stuart Wigney breaking his ankle.

Matthew Knights looks for a teammate against the Swans.

The loss of Richardson in particular was a bitter blow for the Tigers, with the young 20-year old pretty much being Richmond's best performed player in a side that is now 8-1.

It leaves the Tigers with a big hole to fill up forward for the remainder of the season.

The injury drew the ire of the commentators who said that it 'was only a matter of time on this ground' before a major injury would occur.

The close proximity of the boundary line to the fence had previously caused concern of the AFL clubs, and looked to have played a key part in Richardson's injury.

Wigney may not have gained the media attention of Richo, but he had been one of the pick ups of the year prior to breaking his ankle.

Often playing on some of the most dangerous forwards in the league, such as Wayne Carey, Wigney was providing some great rebound off half back, which will now be missing until probably the finals.

Onto the game itself, Sydney had led at every change before being overrun in the final term, with a rampant Richmond finishing strongly with seven goals to three in the last.

Elite spearhead Tony Lockett was kept to just two goals and six kicks by Scott Turner, who had played on Gary Ablett just the week prior.

Lockett was uncharacteristically inaccurate in front of the big sticks when he did get it, even kicking a couple out on the full, which helped keep the Tigers in it early.

Swan Jason Mooney drew the ire of the Tigers with a few questionable attacks on the man, which unfortunately led to some Tigers being sucked into some undisciplined acts themselves, particularly in the first half.

The Swans actually jumped out to a 17-point lead midway through the third term, and it looked like the loss of Richardson was going to be too much for the Tigers to bear.

But a final term onslaught, led in particular by Stuart Edwards who actually came on for Richardson, proved to be the clincher. Edwards would kick three goals in the final term alone to help get his side over the line.

Even though his six goals in Round 4 vs North Melbourne looked better on paper, Nick Daffy put in his best performance of the year, kicking four goals, having a hand in many others, and picking up 19 disposals along the way.

It was also Nathan Bower and Mark Neeld's best performances of the year, with the former providing plenty of run and carry in-between the arcs, and the latter playing a vital stopping role on Sydney champion Paul Roos, who was held to just one kick for the entire match.

Another fringe Tiger who also had his best performance of the year was Paul Bulluss. Aside from pinch hitting in the ruck where required, Bulluss patrolled the centre-half back area, negating many Sydney attacks. He took 10 marks for the game, many of which were from opposition kicks.

The game would be Justin Murphy's last in a Tiger guernsey, he was used sporadically in the match up forward but didn't have any real impact on the game. He finished his Tigerland career with 12 games and 9 goals between 94-95. He then went on to have a successful career with Carlton, Geelong and Essendon.

Stats for the game courtesy of AFL Tables

A Fighting Fury player ratings - click here for explanation

Nick Daffy	11
Matthew Knights	8
Chris Naish	7
Stuart Edwards	7
Paul Bulluss	7
Stuart Maxfield	7
Nathan Bower	6
Chris Bond	5
Brendan Gale	5
Stuart Wigney	5
Ashley Prescott	5
Scott Turner	4
Duncan Kellaway	4
Michael Gale	4
Mark Merenda	4
Mark Neeld	4
Paul Broderick	3
Wayne Campbell	3
Jamie Tape	2
Justin Murphy	0
Matthew Richardson	0