Tiges win ugly in Gabba gloom

WITH five forced changes from the team that beat Melbourne last week, it probably shouldn’t come as a shock that Richmond battled for cohesion at the Gabba yesterday.

And the scoreboard reflected that — a dour eight-point win for the reigning premier.

Even when rain swept across the ground from the second quarter onwards — conditions that usually suit the frenetic Tigers — they battled to score and put the Swans away. With an undersized backline, Sydney locked up Richmond’s forwards by using Callum Mills as a spare defender. It was dull football but Richmond simply could not solve the riddle.

However, their own organised defence was rarely tested, conceding just 11 scoring shots, and two wins on the trot now puts them back into the top eight with plenty of room to improve.

Tom Lynch has had quite the week. After breaking his finger against Melbourne seven days earlier, he made a late dash to Queensland to join his teammates on Monday.

The former Gold Coast captain looked like he might be in for a big day when Sydney decided to replace Aliir Aliir just before the match with the smaller Robbie Fox.

It wasn’t to be though, as

Fox kept Lynch without a touch in the first half, halving any aerial ball that came their way. However, with his team struggling to kick goals, Lynch stood tall in the third term taking a powerhouse contested mark against Dane Rampe and converting from 45m.

It turned the tide and Richmond never looked back.

Shai Bolton took his chance in the midfield yesterday with both hands, finishing with 14 touches and a goal, though he faded as the game wore on.

Jack Graham was strong (16 touches), despite giving away a reversed free kick for slinging Will Hayward to the turf, while Marlion Pickett (11) had his moments.