Richmond vs Port Adelaide

Richmond (6-5, 117.4%) has won four of its last five matches and sits a game outside the top eight, but eighth-placed Collingwood is still yet to have its mid- ...

And down the other end Marshall kicked his second for the night to break Port’s more than half an hour dry spell of goals. When Marshall added his third - after a short review to ensure the ball did not touch the post - suddenly Port Adelaide were back in it. “They are just putting more and more pressure on Port at the ball,” Watson said. “The decision making going inside 50 for Port Adelaide has been poor,” Carey said. Kamdyn McIntosh drifted forward to kick the Tigers’ sixth straight goal, and the first of the opening term after Martin had earlier drawn a high free kick. Debutant Judson Clarke had his family and friends celebrating in the stands when he kicked his first goal in the AFL. Clarke then slotted his second goal from his second kick in AFL footy a short time later. “They’ve been struggling to get that conversation, so the more Todd Marshall can get his hands on the ball, the better for that perspective,” Jason Bennett added. Tiger Dustin Martin took the advantage to slot Richmond’s first and spark a run of five straight goals. When Darcy Byrne-Jones found space out on the wing, Todd Marshall made the most of the opportunity to add his first for the night. “There’s a lot of space and time here with Port not really closed down.” He drifted forward and was denied the opening goal by a Liam Baker dive in the goal square. A spot in the top eight at season’s end will become mighty tough for Port Adelaide if it falls to Richmond in Thursday night’s clash at the MCG to open round 13.

Thursday night AFL returns as Richmond and Port Adelaide meet at the MCG for a game critical in the race for finals. Follow our live AFL ScoreCentre for all ...

Q: A frustrating night, you worked so hard to get back into the game, but the last quarter got away from you? A: It was a tough contest all night, both teams ...

It is our Richmond DNA. We probably tried a couple of things to see what we were getting with moving the ball forward, but it wasn’t attractive, and those guys played very well, but we were not playing our style of game as compared to the last 5-6 weeks. But we tried some guys forward, like Noah Balta and Liam Baker earlier in the year, but we probably found our possession game was not to the level that it would be. Against a really good side, Port, they are probably like us, a bit inconsistent at the start, but to win those games with the guys vying for the spots in the eight is really important. We saw one of our boys tonight, Judson Clarke, a little bit short but really composed with the ball, [Western Bulldog] Caleb Daniel has been doing it a long time, we are very fortunate to have a guy like him in our football club. I think what we have seen with the guys who are short in stature, they can play the game. He is just a wonderful player, a guy that you love to coach because you wind him up and off he goes. It was a fierce contest and the conditions were dewy, and it was a challenge to get the ball movement we probably both desired. Then, when we tried to use the ball with a little bit more composure, we probably turned it over a bit as well. But we took the lead and we were in ... We had worked really hard to get into that position, but we couldn’t hang on for long enough. Probably by the end of the game, we worked so hard to get back, but we gave up five goals from turnover in the first quarter and goals through the corridor, which is not like us. We worked our way into it tonight, we had things go against us but worked our way back into the contest, but they got hold of us in contested possession in the last quarter. For those who don’t think the game is tough, it is a hit.