Sam Lloyd

Brook “Boris” Kilpatrick reporting for AFANA from Melbourne, Australia

Despite an almighty scare against the lowly ranked Tigers, the Western Bulldogs ran out 10 point winners in a stirring contest at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night. Fielding a young team with one eye firmly on the future, the Tigers almost pulled off a massive upset as they led deep into the final quarter. In the end it was the class of the enigmatic Jake Stringer and young gun Marcus Bontempelli that helped the Bulldogs to victory and kept their top-four hopes alive.

Brook “Boris” Kilpatrick reporting for AFANA

To kick the game winning goal after the final siren is every Australian footballer’s dream. It’s the equivalent of the walk-off home run in baseball, the three-point winning buzzer-beater in basketball and the overtime goal in the NHL. On Saturday night, Richmond’s Sam Lloyd lived that very dream. In a see-sawing battle at the MCG in front of a small but rabid crowd of 36,014, Lloyd saved Richmond’s flailing season, possibly the job of its coach Damien Hardwick, and certainly gave its loyal fan base a healthy dose of joy in a season that has delivered mostly just heartache. A live audience on Fox Sports 1 watched across the US.

Brook “Boris” Kilpatrick reporting for AFANA from Australia

Just days after one of Australia’s largest online betting sites paid out on Hawthorn winning the 2015 Premiership - more than two months before the Grand Final is to be played - the raging favorites have been upset by Richmond in front of a massive MCG crowd.

Over 66,000 fans were treated to an intense contest that saw the Tigers put Round 17’s last gasp loss to first placed Fremantle behind them with a stirring win over the reigning Premiers in Hawthorn.

Brook "Boris" Kilpatrick reporting for AFANA

Geelong went into the Round 7 clash with Richmond holding an imposing record. The Cats had beaten up the Tigers in the last ten clashes between the two combatants with an average winning margin of 65 points. To find the last Richmond victory against Geelong you have to flick the pages of AFL history book back to Round 9, 2006 - a sobering thought for a Richmond team already struggling to regain any of the solid form it displayed in 2013. Complacency would not be an issue for the Cats who tasted defeat for the first time this season at the hands of an impressive Port Adelaide in the previous round.

Brook “Boris” Kilpatrick reporting for AFANA

A crowd of 62,000 filtered into the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the all-important Round 4 clash between the Collingwood Magpies and the Richmond Tigers. Both teams were desperate for a win after sluggish starts to the season. Richmond had more on the line given they had already dropped two games they were expected to win. Collingwood has had the ascendancy in recent head-to-head battles between these two proud teams, having not lowered its colors to the Tigers since 2007. With Brett Deledio still unavailable for the Tigers due to an achilles injury, the bookmakers had instilled the Magpies as favorites in what was expected to be a spirited contest.