A perfect Melbourne May day saw 52,000 people settle in at the MCG for one of football's great rivalries: Richmond V Carlton. This is football as it was meant to be, two traditional suburban rivals, going at it hammer and tongs in front of a big crowd at the MCG on Saturday afternoon in autumn sunshine.

As the Tigers were coming off a big upset win against reigning Premiers Port Adelaide and Carlton had enjoyed a stirring, last gasp, come from behind win against Hawthorn this was tipped to be a cracker of a game, with most punters giving the points to Richmond in a rare show of favouritism. The long and at times bitter rivalry between the two clubs had been a large part of the build up to the game. Richmond had named an unchanged line up and there were two late withdrawals from Carlton's selected side to add some height into their line up, including the Irish recruit Setanta O'hAilpin.

The game started with both sides pushing forward at times, but unable to score and it was at around the 6 minute mark when Greg Stafford used his superior height and strength to mark strongly and goal. Not long after Matthew Richardson marked and kicked a long goal from outside 50, this sent the crowd into raptures and Richo was given a standing ovation as the goal was the 600th one of his career. Soon after he goaled again and as one commentator remarked: "Stafford and Richardson have a goal and two goals and Dennis Pagan has headaches." Dennis' headache was about to get a lot worse as Richmond ran rampant all over the ground. The defence ably lead by Darren Gaspar was stopping forward thrusts and repelling them, the midfield with Mark Coughlan in scintillating form harassed their Carlton opponents and sent the ball into the forward line where Richardson, Stafford, Pettifer and Brown kicked goals. At the end of the quarter the scoreline was an unbelievable 46 to the Tigers and 2 points to the Blues. Many believed that the Blues were in fact lucky to even have those 2 points.

The second quarter continued the annihilation. Hard running and quick, skilfull ball use had Carlton chasing tail and Richmond kicking goals. It was raining goals at the Richmond end. Carlton were wondering if they were even going to kick a goal in a half of football. Matthew Lappin finally shook Mark Chaffey in the back pocket's 150th game and scored the first major for the Blues. There were two minutes before the siren for half time. The margin was 77 points and the Tigers were not done yet. Rex's fat lady had sung some time before. The Richmond field was cheered into the half time break by a standing sea of yellow and black.

The third quarter was party time for Richmond. Andrew Kellaway kicked a goal. Andy Krakouer added 3 to his 2 second quarter goals to equal his high score of 5 for a game. The only bad news was an ankle injury to Greg Stafford in the 2nd quarter, however whilst Staff is important to the side, Simmonds and Knobel were so dominant and the midfield so dogged, the defence so strong and desperate and the forwards so accurate that his absence was barely even noticed.The highlight of the quarter was Richo's effort to slam his big body into Nick Stevens with created one of Krakouer's goals. It was this desperation and determination even though the result of the game was no longer in doubt that typified the way the Tigers were playing. Carlton made it a little more respectable by kicking 3 goals and making their tally 4 goals for the day. However the difference was a whopping 85 points with the Tigers having long since passed Terry Wallace's target of 16 goals per game.

The last quarter was barely even worth playing. Richmond continued on their merry way, continually harassing the Blues into errors and sweeping the ball away from them. One such error resulted in Pettifer swooping on a loose ball popping it over the head of his Carlton opponent and directly into the waiting arms of former skipper Wayne Campbell who was standing within goal kicking distance all by himself. Campbell kicked the goal and fittingly put another one through later which was the side's last goal of the day. At times the margin blew out to 98 points. Although the screaming hordes of yellow and black were hoping for a 100 + point margin it was not to be and the Blues managed a few late goals to lose by 85 points.

5 wins from 7 outings and that is more than Richmond won all of last season. The Tiger is roaring!

Player review:

2. Darren Gaspar, absolutely dominant, put three opponents to the sword and lead the backline masterfully, even in the last quarter with his side leading by more than twelve goals he was still desperately trying to prevent goals from going through

3. Brett Deledio, his best game, particularly early when the game was alive, runs hard and fast. This performance should earn him a Rising Star nomination.

5. Troy Simmonds, not as good as last week, but still more than serviceable. He is now starting to hold his marks and once he brushes up a bit on his goal kicking will form part of an eniviable big man division up forward.

6. Mark Chaffey, for his 150th fairly quiet. Took some good grabs and did some nice things in defence. Played tight on Matthew Lappin early, but as the Blue goal sneak finished with 5 goals you would have to give the honours to him.

7. Nathan Brown, getting better each week, another four goals with one audacious steal and snap being the goal of the day. Currently leading the goal kicking ladder with Fraser Gehrig and Matthew Richardson.

9. Wayne Campbell, 26 possessions and two goals, despite only playing a half of football. In his last season, but earning his spot each week.

10. Greg Stafford, kicked two goals before going down with an ankle injury mid way through the 2nd quarter. The early word is that the injury is not serious and is unlikely to sideline him.

11. Joel Bowden, for some reason Calrton decided to leave him unmanned on half back, this allowed Bowden to drive the Tigers into attack and link up beautifully with the hard working defence.

12. Matthew Richardson, enjoying one of his best ever seasons. Another 4 goals, the first being the 600th of his career and sitting on top of the goal kicking ladder along with Fraser Gehrig and team mate Nathan Brown.

13. Trent Knobel, proving to be a very good pickup. Good marking target around the goal and his ruckwork is nearly always to the Tigers advantage.

15. Kayne Pettifer, has regained that ability that he had early in his career to slip his opponent and fiond himself with space and time. Has started to unleash the big kicks and his goals are now flowing.

17. Kane Johnson, only had a half of footy, but that was enough to accumulate 24 very valuable possessions and kick a stunning goal early.

20. Ray Hall, another part of the underrated defence. Takes a good grab and always butters up for a second go at the ball. Very good below his knees for a guy his size.

21. Shane Tuck, not quite as brilliant as last week, but still more than useful. Hawthorn will rue letting this one get away.

22. Danny Meyer, remarkable poise and ability for a second gamer, his lack of size doesn't seem to affect him at all.

24. Mark Coughlan, best on ground, a whopping 38 possessions and cut Carlton to ribbons. I wouldn't be surprised if a Brownlow isn't beckoning.

27. Andrew Krakouer, didn't pick up a lot of possessions, but what he got he made count by kicking 5 goals. One a brilliant soccer effort.

30. Richard Tambling, very quick and always after the ball, hasn't quite adjusted to the tempo of the game, no doubt caused by his injury delayed debut. Once he does get the hang of it he will blow games apart.

32. Greg Tivendale, very busy in the second and third quarters, had his kicking boots on and scored a wonderful running goal.

34. Mark Graham, plays both end of the ground, hard working and honest, also cool headed.

35. Chris Newman, the man that kept driving the Tigers into attack from the backline, featured amongst the best. Game only marred by one poor kickout late in the last quarter.

39. Andrew Kellaway, seems to have gained a second wind. Being the third defender and with players the calibre of Bowden and Gaspar at the height of their powers surrounding him is helping Andy and seeing him drift forward to kick a goal and join the party was delightful.