At the farther end of the ground, Adelaide emigree Billy Frampton played perhaps his best game of AFL footy. As understudy to the injured Jeremy Howe, Frampton will be held to impossibly high standards. This night, he earned his black-and-white stripes. Admittedly, it was a night when conditions militated in his favour.

He stood up in marking duels with Tom Lynch, but just as pleasing for the Pies would be the several times he judged the moment to come off his man and affect spoiling play further up the field. This is the way Pies played; he has learned what he must do to maintain respect and his place.

In a sense, this was Richmond-minus versus Richmond-plus. Collingwood coach Craig McRae and assistant Leppitisch both spent periods at the Tigers with Damien Hardwick as they developed their patent run-and-gun game. It has evolved under McRae at the Magpies, hence the plus. And Tigers were significantly undermanned this night, hence minus.

The manner of the game was dictated by an hour of showers before the game, slicking up the MCG surface. It made for basic footy, prioritising territory over possession. The Magpies excelled in getting the ball and hammering it forward, but were unusually profligate. In the first quarter, they hit the post three times and Nick Daicos kicked a regulation set shot out on the full.

Richmond, even when undermanned, will never be less than driven. So it was that their finest early moments were run-down tackles of Josh Daicos, a rarity, and Pendlebury, perhaps a first, and a desperate, flying lunge by Noah Balta to deny a mark to Brody Mihocek. It was the epitome of commitment. But when pressing forward, commitment translated only into mishandling.

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A look became a pattern. Johnson took a feather-soft mark and kicked a long goal in the first minute of the second quarter and that was it. Collingwood continued to force the ball forward and squander it. At one stage, the Magpies had had 14 shots to the Tigers’ two.

In the third quarter, the Magpies’ extravagance came back to bite them. Richmond yielded to the conditions, subbed out the tall Samson Ryan and introduced the speedy Noah Cumberland. More nimble now, the Tigers began the third quarter with a trio of quick goals and the match, like the weather, changed in a way that could be read on a barometer. The margin narrowed to three points.

Just as quickly, the needle swung again. Three in three minutes for the Pies ensued, the last a vintage weave and snap from Pendlebury. In an equal and opposite action, Tom Lynch then missed two sitters. He would finish the night with one consolation goal, kicked in junk time. Rhyan Mansell missed another at the start of the last quarter and that pretty much was that.

As the Tigers, they lost nothing for effort on the night, but needed more poise and polish. They will be better than this when their list is healthier than this. They’ve already shown it. More than 85,000 braved uncertain weather this night to lend their voices. They’ll be back for more big ones, and so will both these teams.

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