Ed Richards and Marcus Bontempelli have delivered a devastating one-two punch as the Western Bulldogs posted their third win on the trot with a 57-point triumph over Richmond at Marvel Stadium.
Richards tallied 32 disposals, six clearances, two goals, 11 inside 50s, 11 score involvements and 662m gained in Saturday night's match as the Bulldogs cruised to the 15.15 (105) to 7.6 (48) win.
Bontempelli was huge in the second half on the way to 29 disposals, three clearances, 556m gained and two goals for the night, as the seventh-placed Bulldogs improved their record to 12-7 and boosted their percentage from 93.2 to 96.8.
"It's great to be able to play with probably the greatest ever," Richards told Fox Sports of playing alongside Bontempelli.
"I'm just privileged to be able to pull on the jumper next to him. He's our skipper, he always shows up in big moments."
Tim Taranto battled hard for Richmond with 24 disposals and seven clearances, while Tom Lynch and Mykelti Lefau kicked two goals apiece.
But the last-placed Tigers (2-17) were clearly out of their depth against a Bulldogs team who are hitting their straps at the right time of the year.
Ed Richards didn't give up on this one 👏#AFLDogsTigers pic.twitter.com/oP7LDZpUcS
— AFL (@AFL) July 25, 2026
The Bulldogs face a daunting task next Friday night when they take on flag favourites Fremantle in Perth, before rounding out their home-and-away campaign with games against North Melbourne, Carlton and Melbourne.
The Tigers' hopes of avoiding the wooden spoon could rest on next week's clash with fellow strugglers West Coast.
Richmond kicked two of the first three goals of Saturday's match to trail by just two points at quarter time.
But things turned sour for Richmond in the second term as the Bulldogs piled on 4.5 to 0.0 to open up a 31-point lead by half-time.
It marked just the third time this century the Bulldogs had held a team scoreless in a quarter - following on from their efforts against North Melbourne in 2024 and Sydney in 2022.
"The second quarter was the one," Richmond coach Adem Yze said of when his team lost their way.
"The pattern is against the really good teams we have a really ordinary or horrendous quarter, whether it's through contest or whether it's through territory or through turnover.
"Our second quarter, we just let ourselves down, and it's deflating."
The half-time stats made for ugly reading for Richmond.
The Bulldogs dominated inside-50s (32-17), clearances (21-12), centre clearances (8-1), contested possessions (69-54) and marks inside 50m (10-2), while also winning the tackle count 37-29.
Perfection out of the middle from the Dogs 😮💨#AFLDogsTigers pic.twitter.com/VenvvrIcVb
— AFL (@AFL) July 25, 2026
Worryingly for Richmond, they had found themselves in a hole despite Bulldogs captain Bontempelli being held to the relatively modest stats of 11 disposals and one clearance in the first half.
The Bulldogs looked set to inflict defeat by 1000 cuts early in the third quarter as easy misses by Aaron Naughton and Rory Lobb left the side with 6.12 to their name.
And when Richmond finally broke their goal drought via Sam Lalor's long-range strike, the margin was just 27 points.
But two goals to Cody Weightman amidst a four-goal burst killed off the contest as the margin swelled to 51 points in the blink of an eye.
