Cats start slowly then blow Tigers away

Geelong have overcome a slow start to blow Richmond away in a 67-point AFL drubbing at the MCG.

Geelong

Esava Ratugolea was one of nine Geelong goalscorers as the Cats thrashed Richmond by 67 points. (AAP)

Geelong have tightened their iron grip on top spot on the AFL ladder, Patrick Dangerfield and Gary Ablett starring in a 67-point smashing of Richmond at the MCG.

The Tigers scored the first two goals of Friday night's clash to lead by 11 points at quarter-time, but in a stunning blitz the Cats slammed through the next 11 majors to storm to a 16.8 (104) to 5.7 (37) win in front of 65,214 fans.

The AFL's score review system was in the spotlight again with the Tigers' Jack Higgins appearing to be robbed of a clear goal in the third instance of review confusion in two weeks.

The goal would have stopped a run of five unanswered majors to Geelong in the second quarter but it mattered little in the final wash-up.

"The game wasn't going the way that we'd planned early on," coach Chris Scott said.

"It was a combination of us turning the ball over a little bit and a bit due to their pressure.

"There were a couple of structural changes that we made.

"It wasn't just one thing at quarter-time it was a combination of 'Let's stick to our plan and use the ball a bit better' and backing in that if we do give our players ahead of the ball an even chance we'll be in pretty good shape."

Ablett was loudly booed by the Richmond home crowd early in the match, but with many Tigers fans departing the stadium early, the remaining Cats fans cheered every time he touched the ball in an impressive 24-disposal, two-goal display.

Dangerfield's class stood out, the Brownlow Medal winner finishing with 38 possessions and a goal, with Mitch Duncan (34) and Tim Kelly (32) also in the thick of the action as the Cats' midfield sliced through their opposition after the first break.

Tom Hawkins was the leading goal kicker on the ground with four, with Gryan Miers also impressive with three.

Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin (23 touches), Dustin Martin (26 and a goal) and Dion Prestia (30) led the charge as they pressured Geelong into early mistakes, leading the tackle count 32-14 at quarter-time.

Martin and debutant Patrick Naish booted goals as the Cats failed to kick a major in a quarter for the first time this season.

But Geelong flipped the game on its head.

Scott's men led by 30 points at halftime and stretched that advantage to 57 before Tom Lynch scored his only goal of the night.

But it was his side's only major in an eight-goals-to-one term, the Cats leading by 74 points before easing to the finish line.

Richmond were without David Astbury and Brandon Ellis for the clash, the key duo joining the likes of Jack Riewoldt, Alex Rance and Toby Nankervis on a lengthy injury list.

"Sides go through injury ups and downs all the time," coach Damien Hardwick said.

"We're in a trough at the moment but we expected to play better than what we did, especially with the fundamentals of the game that we can control.

"That's most disappointing thing but they're areas that we can fix."

Geelong were two games clear of second-placed GWS heading into round 12 and improved to 11-1 with the result, while Richmond slipped to a 7-5 record.


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Source: AAP


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