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Ruthless Tigers power past Saints in AFL

AFL

Richmond have snapped a two-game losing streak in style and left a wasteful St Kilda in their wake with a brilliant 86-point win at Marvel Stadium.

St Kilda led at quarter-time and dominated the second term but failed to make their early weight of possession count, with Richmond nudging their way to a four-goal lead at halftime and ruthlessly kicking on to batter the Saints 20.14 (134) to 7.6 (48).

Silky Tigers midfielder Shane Edwards (29 touches) and Jack Graham (17 disposals, 12 tackles and three goals) were ever-present and Dustin Martin (34 touches) worked through a slow start to assert himself on the match, while Jack Riewoldt kicked five goals.

St Kilda skipper Jack Steele (22 touches, 10 tackles) was typically tough at stoppages while Hunter Clark's cleanliness by foot stood out in his 33 touches.

St Kilda's Rowan Marshall (foot) and Zak Jones (soreness), both under injury clouds earlier in the week, were left out for Paul Hunter and Luke Dunstan.

But their teammates responded to coach Brett Ratten's calls for a fast start, taking a one-point lead at the first break in front of 32,056 fans.

In a second quarter as error-strewn as it was exhilarating, St Kilda dominated much of the play but didn't make it count.

The efficient Tigers wouldn't make the same mistake, gradually creeping away, before opening up a 25-point lead when Lynch finished off a counter-attack with seconds left in the half.

St Kilda also had to activate medical substitute Ben Long at halftime for Jimmy Webster (groin).

In the third term, the Tigers crunched St Kilda around the stoppages and punished them on the scoreboard, kicking seven goals to two to set the tone for a thrashing.

It started when Edwards goaled with a clever roving snap before Martin got on the end of a turnover, danced around a defender and sent the Tigers 38-points ahead with a booming goal.

From there, Richmond simply turned up the heat and the Saints crumbled with the reigning premiers powering out to a 10-goal lead at the final change.

They rubbed further salt in the Saints' wounds with a five-goal last quarter.

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