Melbourne\u2019s class proved too much for a plucky Richmond, but not before the Tigers threw an early punch that briefly rattled the Demons.<\/p>\n
Richmond brought the energy and edge in the opening stages, harassing Melbourne into mistakes and matching them around the contest. Their pressure was sharp, their intent clear \u2014 and for a time, it looked like they might turn the night into a scrap on their terms.<\/p>\n
But Melbourne don\u2019t need much of a window.<\/p>\n
Once the Demons found their rhythm, the game shifted quickly and decisively. Their ball movement sharpened, their composure returned, and their superior class began to tell. What had been a contest became an exercise in control.<\/p>\n
At the centre of it all was Kozzie Pickett, who delivered a performance that underlined his growing standing in the competition. Electric from the outset, Pickett finished with 29 disposals and four goals in a best-on-ground display that blended flair with impact. Every time the game threatened to tighten, he broke it open.<\/p>\n
And in the dying stages, after many Tigers fans had already left, Pickett took what may be the mark of the year. He launched on top of Campbell Gray after using the young cub as a step-ladder.<\/p>\n
He is quickly becoming the form player of the competition \u2013 and on nights like this, he looks close to unstoppable.<\/p>\n
Richmond had their moments, particularly early, but Melbourne\u2019s polish ultimately separated the sides and the floodgates opened late.<\/p>\n
What could have been an honourable loss for the Tigers turned ugly in the last quarter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne\u2019s class proved too much for a plucky Richmond, but not before the Tigers threw an early punch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-627871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}