Ballantyne battles on
In difficult conditions at Domain Stadium, Hayden Ballantyne proved to be a handful for Richmond defenders as he did his part to will Freo into the game.
The small forward began the third quarter with a powerful snap across the body and followed that effort up with one of the most unlikely boundary line goals you’d ever see.  
 
Blakely on the up
Second year player Connor Blakely continued his development as a midfielder against Richmond with 22 disposals, six clearances as well as seven tackles in the 38-point loss, while also displaying his rucking abilities as third man up, with seven hit outs.
The hard-nosed midfielder should continue to learn from his experiences around the ball as he spent much of the night lined up against established on-ballers Trent Cotchin and Shaun Grigg.

Lyon post-match Q & A: Rd 9 v Richmond 
 
Richmond use the elements
The Tigers used the conditions to their advantage on Saturday night, with a strong second quarter allowing them to keep Freo at arm's length for the rest of the game. The four goal to one second quarter gave Richmond a 31 point lead at halftime, a deficit that proved difficult to overcome for Freo in adverse conditions.
 
Clearances count
In wet weather football, clearances become paramount in the outcome of a game. Richmond proved this as they won the clearance count 42 to 36 on Saturday night. The midfield of Cotchin, Grigg and Dustin Martin  proved to be a formidable trio with 20 clearances between them, while Mundy led the way for Freo with eight.

Tigers capitalise on conditions
 
Marks inside 50
Richmond currently rank 4th in the AFL for marks inside 50 and this proved to be a telling statistic in Saturday night’s game. In difficult conditions where every entry into the forward line was vital, the Tigers made the most of their opportunities with 10 marks inside their forward 50 compared to only four for Freo. This wasn’t due to more opportunity, as both Freo and Richmond had 43 inside 50 entries each.