Jack Riewoldt out with a poked eye. Gary Ablett, still on the sidelines with a pinged hamstring. Other than the prospect of seeing Dustin Martin add to his Brownlow vote tally, it was hard to think of too many reasons to get excited about watching Richmond take on a flagging Gold Coast Suns. Thank heavens, then, for Daniel Rioli.
Even a Rioli cameo makes a game worth the price of admission. Cat-like in his balance and agility, he kicked all three Tigers goals for the first quarter: one from near the paint of the 50 arc and boundary that never looked like missing, the second a classic bit of roving, the third marked from a perfect Shane Edwards pass.
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Tigers run over Suns
On the back of a great team effort the Richmond Tigers defeated the Gold Coast Suns.
At that point, he was pretty much keeping Richmond in a game they were expected, and needed to win to hold their place in the top four. They achieved that end by 33 points – helped by a hefty Suns injury toll – and Martin probably chalked up another three Brownlow votes, but Rioli's burst aside, it was an affair to forget.
The Suns charged out of the blocks, Touk Miller on the board within a minute from a Jack Martin clearance, then Martin dished off a second assist to Matt Rosa within the first two minutes. Rioli replied, then Ben Ainsworth speared a kick on to the chest of Peter Wright for the Suns' third. It was fast, open play, and it suited the Suns.
Martin started slowly – David Swallow was the only player strong enough to man him at stoppages, and Adam Saad the only one quick enough to go with him when he went forward – but no one could do the job alone, and with Trent Cotchin and Anthony Miles, the Tigers gained total control around the stoppages in the second quarter.
Rioli was involved in Richmond's fourth goal, too, but the rest of the first half belonged to a very different footballer, Toby Nankervis, who kicked three for the quarter while Jason Castagna did the opposite, missing three that could have finished the contest at half-time.
It helped keep the Suns in the game, even with two players already in the rooms – Callum Ah Chee having his already strapped shoulder crunched, and the courageous Alex Sexton having his jaw assessed after being met by two players in a head-on collision.
Brayden Fiorini and Jack Martin closed the gap to a couple of goals, but the Suns suffered a fatal blow when  Ainsworth joined his teammates on the bench with ice on his knee. Tom Lynch gave them a last gasp, and he never gave up against Alex Rance, but late goals to Dustin Martin and Castagna settled the issue.
That said, the margin was only 25 at the last change: it was lack of personnel, more than the margin, that dictated the result as the depleted Suns were run off their feet. But the Tigers don't really put teams away, as their percentage of 108 suggests.
That's a question mark over the Tigers that they'll first have to answer against Geelong, who they play for the first time in Round 21. Should they hold on to their place in the top four, they could very easily face Adelaide first up, who spanked them by 76 points back in Round 6.
But they keep getting the job done, and if they'd won another couple of close ones in this most quixotic of seasons, they'd be fighting with Adelaide for that top spot. If nothing else, they're poised to go deeper into September than they have in a very long time.