Richmond Tigers vs Carlton Blues: AFL live scores, blog

That's it from me tonight. Richmond finally overcome a dogged Carlton to win by 26 points and unfurl their flag in style. Thanks for tuning in! Richmond 17.19 (121) defeated Carlton 15.5 (95) by 26 points at the MCG. GOALS Richmond- Townsend 4, Riewoldt 4, Caddy 3, Butler 3, Castagna 2, Martin. Carlton- C Curnow 5, Wright 5, Garlett 2, Fisher, Casboult. BEST Richmond- Martin, Caddy, Riewoldt, Townsend, Rance, Butler. Carlton- Cripps, Simpson, C Curnow, Marchbank, Thomas. INJURIES Richmond- Bolton (leg). Carlton- Kennedy (ankle), Kreuzer (groin). CROWD- 90,151 at the MCG.

PREDICTIVE BROWNLOW TIME! Carlton- K. Simpson, one vote. Awesome down back, racking up possessions at will and distributing cleanly. Teams will have to lock down on him now, because he's too damaging to let roam free. Carlton- P. Cripps, two votes. One word- Herculean. 36 touches in midfield, 25 of them contested, and with Bryce Gibbs at Adelaide now, he more than picked up the slack. Also showed off his marking prowess with a couple of big overhead clunks. Richmond- D. Martin, three votes. The difference tonight. It's not just about the touches he gets, it's about what he does with them. His kicking is always dangerous, and he makes the opposition panic whenever he gets the ball. 32 touches and a goal, and probably another 3 votes for Charlie.

The Richmond Tigers have unfurled their flag in style- though not without plenty of scares- with a 26-point victory over a plucky, but ultimately outgunned, Carlton Blues, in front of a record crowd of 90,151.. If you looked at the scoreboard and nothing, else, you'd assume the Tigers should have won this game by more. 71 inside 50s and 36 scoring shots, many of their misses gettable, compared to 47 and 20 for the Blues. But that's why it always pays to watch a game rather than read about it afterwards. The first ten minutes were to Carlton in 2017 like chalk is to cheese; the yellow and black faithful stunned as the Blues slammed through five goals in less than half a quarter. Too fierce at the coalface, too slick on the outside, and armed with a plethora of dangerous forwards led by the irrepressible Charlie Curnow, an upset looked on the cards. From there on, though, this was always Richmond's game to lose, the Tigers steadying after that opening onslaught to slowly wrest the match back on their terms. A run of four straight goals was broken by Jarrod Garlett late in that first term, but it seemed like the premiers, and their famous tackling pressure and intensity, had finally rocked up. The Blues managed to keep their noses in front for much of the second, and keep the Tigers contained when they looked like breaking clear in the third, but with every minute the dam wall showed a bit more strain, the Blues' gallant defence a bit closer to cracking. Keeping it at bay was the first glimpse of a rule that's sure to rear its head again this year; six times the Tigers were pinged for encroaching on the 10-metre imaginary circle around the marker, and paid the ultimate price on four of those occasions. But despite the best efforts of Kade Simpson, who with 35 touches at a remarkable efficiency continues to give Father Time the bird, the cork finally popped in the last, a string of Tiger goals putting the result beyond doubt. Once again, it was Dustin Martin leading the way for Richmond, the tattooed marvel stepping up every time the Tigers were challenged with a brazen gallop forward, a one-on-one win to set up a teammate, or a scrappy win at the coalface. 32 touches and one goal doesn't read as anything remarkable by his exceptionally lofty standards, but without him the Tigers would have lost. Almost as good were a pair of other regular stars in Jack Riewoldt (four goals) and Alex Rance, an immovable object in defence. But contributions from lesser lights were just as critical, four goals from Jacob Townsend, three from Dan Butler, and three and 19 touches from a free-roaming Josh Caddy, showed that the Tigers don't just have one drummer at their disposal. For the Blues, five goals apiece to Matthew Wright and Charlie Curnow led the way up forward, but their newfound attacking style had a consequence: the miserly stinginess of the Blues in 2016 and 2017 took a hit, the Tigers scoring almost at will late in the game. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is an old cliche, but feels appropriate here.