RICHMOND clicked straight back into premiership mode with a crushing 87-point win against Essendon at the Norm Minns Oval on Saturday.
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The Tigers conceded the first two goals of the match, but soon assumed complete control to kick the next eight goals and establish a big half-time lead.
Yellow and black star power was on display in front of an official crowd of 7681 people as Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin produced pieces of brilliance.
In the second term, Cotchin smothered the ball of the boot of a Bomber opponent, gathered the loose ball, and booted a goal on the run with a banana kick.
Martin’s disposal was trademark sublime as he collectecd 24 possessions for the match.
Key defender Alex Rance kept Joe Daniher goal-less in the three quarters he played.
Another encouraging sign for the Tigers was a player who didn’t feature in the premiership win, Shai Bolton, who kicked three goals and pressed his claims for a start in round one.
The only bright spots for the Bombers came early when trade period additions Adam Saad and Devon Smith kicked back-to-back goals.
But the Bombers other big signing in the off-season, Jake Stringer, had a dirty day on debut.
He started on the bench and soon after coming on was collected high by Rance and had to leave the ground with blood streaming from his head.
Bombers’ prime mover Zach Merrett was out of the match early with blurred vision.