It could have been worse for the Gold Coast Suns.
But frighteningly, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says their 92-point AFL romp over their hosts at Metricon Stadium could have been better.
The Tigers appeared to finally click after an injury-hit start to the year, setting up their round 16 victory by racing to an astonishing 16.7 (103) to 3.1 (19) halftime lead on Saturday.
It was Richmond's third-highest score at the midway point, just short of their record 17.9 (111) against North Melbourne in 1931.
And the 84-point deficit was the Tigers' second-biggest halftime lead after they became the first side in seven years to crack a ton by the main break.
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Yet Richmond took their foot off the Suns' throat in the second stanza despite still threatening to pull of a 100-point win.
"It's always a tough one. It probably always goes a little bit like that - you have a commanding lead at halftime and the game very rarely continues on that front," Hardwick said.
"To their credit, I thought the Suns bounced back pretty hard, they played a terrific third quarter, were by far the better side in that quarter and the last quarter they hung tough as well.
"We probably lair-ised with the ball the in the second part of the third (quarter) and the last quarter as well.
"But there's some good things we'll take out of the game, no doubt."
Indeed sixth-placed Richmond appear well placed with a 9-6 record and their remaining seven regular season games to be held at the MCG.
In another boost, Jack Riewoldt appears close to returning from a knee injury.
Not that they missed him on Saturday.
Jason Castagna kicked five goals while former Suns captain Tom Lynch booted three and Shai Bolton two.
"(Castagna) was in good form early. Speed up forward is certainly important, they're hard to play against, which is another positive," Hardwick said.
"Shai Bolton took another step forward in his development today and Sydney (Stack) continues to become a really valuable player for us."
"It was a step forward there's no doubt about that. We can certainly get better in a couple of areas but we're pretty pleased overall with the result."
