As it happened: Tigers blow Dons away in final term; Elliott erupts as Pies pip Crows; Swans edge inaccurate Saints

Oh, we’re from Tigerland...!

Earlier today, the cost of Jack Higgins’ late misses were compounded by a string of injuries for St Kilda, including a potentially long-term blow for captain Jarryn Geary. Click here to read the full story.

Nathan Buckley believes besieged Collingwood’s hard-fought five-point win over Adelaide should provide “about five or 10 minutes” respite from the off-field civil war that has engulfed the club at board level. Click here to read the full story.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick spoke to the media after the game...

Q: Do you feel like tonight coupled with some of your key players starting to return can be a kick-starter and get you rolling a bit?
A: We hope so. It’s a matter of ticking over the wins. Once again our side is sort of building, starting to come together from a connection point of view. They haven’t played the majority of the season. Takes a bit of time to gel. That’s slowly happened. Tonight at various stages. We’re going to get better in some areas. (Kane) Lambert is available to play next week which is a positive for us. We’re not sure what happens with Dion (Presita) and Toby Nankervis is progressing lot better than we think. We have players that will hopefully come into selection frame this week. We have a bit of a way to go with how well we’ll play. We’re going OK. We did a hell of a lot better.

Q: Damien the change of bringing the game against West Coast forward, how does that go with management of players. Does it mess around with that, any of the management of your players.
A: We’ll fly back tonight to Sydney. We’ll reset. Look, our guys have to be flexible and agile. I think the AFL and West Coast and Richmond did a wonderful job of thinking through the process and did it pretty smartly. West Coast want to play the game at home. Challenge will be for us to fly back over. Our players are prepared. They’ll prepare well again this week like we did this week and look forward to the challenge come Sunday next week.

Q: Could you just explain why the decision to go back to Sydney for the week and come back again?
A: It worked out better from a quarantining point of view we go back to Sydney.

Q: You’ll fly Saturday, the day before the game?
A: We play Sunday, we’ll fly Saturday.

Q: Seventeen nights on the road. You can see the finish line. How do you make sure that everyone stays fresh for the next six, seven days, whatever it is?
A: Look, our guys have done this, did a reasonable job last year. Our guys look at it as a positive. Once again to be around the group and connect. Young players come into the fold a lot more. Learn a bit more about each other both on and off the field. That’s exciting for us. Our players enjoy the aspect of going away and spending time together. That’s not to say we don’t miss people we left at home. Our guys cope with it very well. It’s strengthen our program. No doubt it keeps us in good stead moving forward for the remainder of the year.

Q: Just Mabior Chol’s first 15 minutes, it looks like he’s only just scratched the surface.
A: It’s exciting isn’t it. Once again he rose to the challenge. ‘Marbs’ is impressive. He’ll get used to playing that role a bit more with Toby missing maybe a couple more. Gives him an opportunity to get into the game. We’re excited what he can offer. As is CJ (Callum Coleman-Jones). These opportunities they get, they are grasping with both hands. Certainly found some players that we think we’ll keep us in good stead moving forward.

Richmond know all about thriving on the big stage in recent years, and while Saturday night’s Dreamtime clash was not a final, they delivered an important statement in posting a 39-point win over Essendon at Perth’s Optus Stadium. Click here to read Jon Pierik’s full match report.

Here’s some more social media reaction to Richmond’s victory over Essendon...