Win, lose or draw this game was always going to be about one man: Matthew Richardson.

For the last 13 years the mercurial forward, affectionately known to his legion of fans as Richo, has alternately made his supporters hearts sing with joy or break with despair. For him to reach 200 games was a significant milestone.

There was a perception that Port Adelaide were a superior side under extreme pressure, and despite the emotion surrounding Richo's big day the Power had the talent to see them across the line.

Richmond seemed strangely flat early in the match and it looked as if the loss against St Kilda the previous week had hit their slowly growing confidence hard. The Power were playing well and with confidence. Ray Hall was outmatched against Warren Tredrea and the midfield was being overrun. Richo had little impact, the ball did not go his way often enough for him to be in the game. The Power established a 20 point lead in the first quarter and would have blown the Tigers out of the water if they had kicked accurately.

The second quarter began with more of the same, although Richardson was starting to find the footy, it still looked like another belting was on the cards as Port Adelaide extended their lead to 28 points. Enter Shane Tuck. The son of Hawthorn legend and league games record holder Michael Tuck was playing his 9th senior game and had been establishing himself as a tough midfielder. He was playing a lone hand in the middle for the Tigers and then he threw himself at the ball, forced a turnover, dished the ball off to Nathan Brown who kicked a goal, the Power answered it, then Tuck repeated the dose, this time kicking the goal himself and Richmond got back into the match. The defenders in Hall, Gaspar, Newman and Kellaway got on top of their opponents and gave the ball to the likes of Bowden and Tivendale who drove Richmond into attack. Tuck was joined by Coughlan, Chaffey, Johnson and Campbell and the midfield ticked over. The forward line suddenly clicked and the Power had no answer to small forwards such as Brown and Pettifer. When Richardson soared for a mark late in the quarter, the crowd rose with him and roared "RICHO!", he converted, the crowd went wild and Richmond went into the half time break with a 2 point lead, having turned around a 28 point deficit halfway through the term.

The Tigers had shown they could fight, could they hold onto the lead? Yes, they could! The 3rd quarter was all Richmond as the players in yellow and black went wild, running all over their more fancied opponents. Matthew Richardson was everywhere: in the backline, on the wing and up forward kicking goals. The 3 quarter time margin exceeded the supporters wildest dreams, a 39 point lead and the Power had been well and truly turned off.

The last quarter was a formality. The rock solid defence relaxed a little and allowed a couple of goals through. But when Pettifer took a hand ball from debutant Richard Tambling, ran into the goal mouth, looked around, touched the ball on the ground and arrogantly dropped the ball onto his boot and through the goals it was over as a contest and it was party time for the Tigers. Andrew Kellaway after defending doggedly and desperately all day, ran forward and kicked a rare goal, then Greg Stafford iced the cake by taking a powerful mark in front of goals, then putting a goal through after the siren to give the Tigers a 56 point win and make Matthew Richardson's special day one to remember.

Player review:

2. Darren Gaspar, was troubled early by Brendon Lade's size and strength and the delivery into the Power forward line. Once he was moved onto Warren Tredrea the Power's centre half forward was hardly sighted for the rest of the match.

3. Brett Deledio, growing in confidence and ability with every game he plays. It's frightening how good this kid could be.

5. Troy Simmonds, I have to hand it to the ruckman. His first quarter was a shocker, he could have been excused for crawling into a hole and refusing to come out. He didn't, he went into the ruck and his complete and total domination of that role was a large part of why the Tigers won the game so well.

6. Mark Chaffey, after being given a football lesson by Nick Dal Santo against the Saints, Chaff got another tough job on Kane Cornes, this time he came out on top and kept his opponent out of the game.

7. Nathan Brown, smooth and all class, 6 goals 2, there isn't a lot more that needs to be said. He has been described as the best small forward in the game, totally living up to that tag.

9. Wayne Campbell, a cool head and experience off the bench helped settle the youngsters down and give them some direction when the game was still in the balance.

10. Greg Stafford, relegated to a second string role with Simmonds performance, but still a good target in the forward line and book ended the game with both the first and the last goal for the Tigers.

11. Joel Bowden, all class as he gathered the ball almost at will and drove the Tigers into attack. Unlucky not to have a couple of goals.

12. Matthew Richardson, made the 200th one to remember with 17 marks, 3 goals, the mark of the day and a near best on ground performance.

13. Trent Knobel, did his job in the ruck and as the tall floating back in defence or attack.

15. Kayne Pettifer, read the play, crumbed the ball and kicked the goals. Beginning to play the half forward role he was recruited for.

17. Kane Johnson, used sparingly due to the recent foot injury, but gave the midfield that extra bite it had lacked.

20. Ray Hall, started off badly, being beaten to the ball by Tredrea, had a great second half, winning the ball and using his long kicking to get the ball down the ground quickly.

21. Shane Tuck, best on ground, the man who dragged the Tigers back into the match when they looked down and out.

22. Danny Meyer, a nice game from the debutant, quick and skilled, considering that his opponent was a 250+ gamer, 2 time Premiership player and Brownlow medallist Gaving Wanganeen, he did pretty well for a first gamer.

24. Mark Coughlan, completed another accomplished tagging role cutting the dangerous Peter Burgoyne out of the game whilst picking up a few possessions himself.

27. Andrew Krakouer, a marked improvement on the St Kilda game, but still has a tendency to be quiet for long periods, fitness may be a question mark.

30. Richard Tambling, the eagerly awaited debut of the exciting Nothern Territorian, he did not disappoint, lightning quick with sure hands, didn't kick any goals, but created at least two for his team mates.

32. Greg Tivendale, his best game in more than a season. Ran hard, tackled, chased and kicked it assuredly into the forward line.

34. Mark Graham, he won't get may kudos, but does what he has to and provides a hard body at contests.

35. Chris Newman, a quiet game by his standards, but his opponent was rarely sighted, which generally means that he did his job with his usual efficiency.

39. Andrew Kellaway, the man's sheer courage and desperation is breathtaking. Totally deserved the goal he kicked late in the game and will be sorely missed when he does call it a day.