Trailing by 29 points early in the third quarter, Richards exploded into action with goals in the third, fifth, 12^th and 16^th minutes to give the Bushrangers all the momentum.

But the revival was short-lived as Geelong regrouped and went on to show why they are one of the teams to defeat for the TAC Cup premiership.

“We started to get the ball forward quickly and Joe was good enough to take his chances,” coach Leon Higgins said.

“He made the most of his opportunities which was great.

“It was a good little patch by Joe, but unfortunately we couldn’t go on with it in the last quarter.”

While Higgins was disappointed with the 22-point loss, he said the team’s workrate was much better than their last performance against Greater Western Victoria Rebels.

Wingman Doulton Langlands played one of his best matches for the club in kicking three goals while Jordon Butts provided plenty of rebound from defence.

“Doulton had a really strong game,” Higgins said.

“He has been building for a while.”

Ben Paton proved instrumental in the Bushrangers’ resurgence after switching from the backline to the midfield at half-time.

Nick Murray continued his strong introduction to the TAC Cup with a polished performance in defence.

“In the first half we competed well for long periods but had trouble scoring,” Higgins said.

“We had some lapses towards the end of quarters but otherwise it was a pretty good effort.

“We were in trouble in the first half and then we got on top.

“It was a pity we couldn’t finish off in the final quarter because the effort was definitely a lot better.”

The only injury concern to emerge from the match was a foot problem to CDHBU forward Matt Walker.