Melbourne and Richmond met in a competitive Sunday morning practice match at Casey Fields.
The undermanned Tigers came away with a 23-point win - 18.9.(117) to 14.10.(94) - after conceding the opening five goals of the match.
Senior sides for both clubs played the first four quarters with the next three quarters to be made up primarily of younger and VFL players.
Dustin Martin (managed), Tim Taranto (managed), Dion Prestia (hamstring), Tom Lynch (building match fitness), captain Toby Nankervis (managed), Liam Baker (family reason) and Dylan Grimes (managed) were among those missing for Richmond who claimed a tidy win under new coach Adem Yze.
The Demons were without Clayton Oliver, who is set to play the final three quarters of the seven-period match, as well as Angus Brayshaw (illness), Tom McDonald (calf), Lachie Hunter (calf), Charlie Spargo (achilles) and Harrison Petty (toe), while recruit Shan McAdam (calf) was also absent.
Read our takeaways below:
Naismith looks a handy acquisition, Richmond’s midfield undercard stepped up
Without Martin, Taranto, Prestia and Nankervis, Richmond’s undercard of midfielders fought back valiantly after a torrid beginning.
Max Gawn, Jack Viney and Christian Petracca had done what they pleased early but Thomson Dow, Jack Ross and Jacob Hopper in particular worked their way into proceedings to wrestle back momentum.
Sam Naismith, while unlikely to be a first choice ruckman, could prove to be a handy acquisition for the Tigers.
In the absence of his former Sydney teammate Nankervis, he worked well in tandem with Samson Ryan and provided plenty of ball for the Tigers mids to go after.
Naismith’s clever tap work in the middle helped his side get back into the game as the Tigers kicked 10 straight goals after conceding the first five.
Balta, Koschitzke and Bolton worked well up forward
Noah Balta has made the move forward following the retirement of Jack Riewoldt and the absence of Tom Lynch.
He moved well around attacking 50 and after a few early errors turned his game around to be the most dominant forward on the ground in the first half, booting three goals.
He created a dangerous triumvirate of forwards alongside recruit Jacob Koschitzke (two goals) and Shai Bolton (four goals).
Balta and Koschitzke both looked dangerous in the air with Bolton, who also had a few runs in the middle, doing the work at ground level.
Youngster Steely Green also played well. He kicked two goals and was busy around the feet of the talls.
Yze style not overly dissimilar to Hardwick’s
It’s only early days, but Adem Yze’s game style is not too dissimilar to what Damien Hardwick implemented at the club.
Yze has said this off-season that he wants his side to kick the ball more, and that they did at times, but it was the maniacal forward pressure of Hardwick’s reign that stood out.
Richmond forced the Melbourne defence into turnover after turnover and they capitalised by scoring frequently through that method.
Gibcus return went to plan
Tigers fans would have been happy to see gun youngster Josh Gibcus back out there.
The 20-year-old defender, who missed all of 2023 with hamstring problems, took some nice marks in defence and appears to returned in good order.
His presence alone was a nice sight but the fact he played well was even sweeter for the yellow and black.
Melbourne’s usual suspects haven’t lost their touch
Max Gawn, Christian Petracca and Jack Viney were back to their usual best where they showed their dominance in the middle.
The strength and physicality was brought early by both Viney and Petracca, who were at times bouncing off tackles to release the likes of Tom Sparrow and Jack Billings going forward.
Gawn held his own (as he usually does) in the ruck, which only lasted for two of the seven periods of play as he was rested after half-time.
Steven May and Jake Lever were solid down back as well.
Kynan Brown strengthens case for opening round debut
The father-son pick from the most recent draft turned a lot of heads early out at Casey fields today.
The 19-year old son of Nathan showed a lot of class and talent in his first four quarters of football, especially when it came to distributing the ball inside forward 50 - an area that most Melbourne fans would be delighted to see and hear about.
A lively opening period for the rookie was capped off with a classy left foot goal from the boundary. He showed signs that Dees supporters can get quite excited about for the years ahead.
Is the old age becoming a concern for the Demons?
Although it’s only a practice match, the Dees' lack of speed defensively was a glaring issue throughout the first four periods.
On numerous occasions, the elite forward half pressure from Richmond proved to be overwhelming for the Demons, which led to multiple turnovers and foot races towards the Richmond goals which the Dees struggled to contain.
Conceding a score of 117 points is something the Demons wouldn’t be too pleased about. It is an area of improvement that they will look heavily into ahead of their next pre-season hit-out against Carlton.
