Richmond wins, may lose Vickery

Richmond has claimed its fourth straight win, beating West Coast by 17 points at Patersons Stadium on Friday night, but Tigers forward Ty Vickery will dominate all reviews of the round 18 contest.

And it won't be for the crucial two first-half-goals he booted in the 8.11 (59) to 6.6 (42) victory.

Vickery was reported for striking Eagles ruckman Dean Cox. His forearm, thrown during a boundary throw-in, copped Cox high and ended the night, and perhaps prematurely the career, of the six-time All-Australian, who announced his retirement during the week.

It won't help Vickery's defence that Cox lay motionless on the ground for a couple of minutes before being helped from the ground. He was subbed out of the game and had a concussion test, but didn't return.

Pleading accidental contact might be tough too, as Vickery appeared to be retaliating for an incident only moments earlier when Cox struck him in the stomach, and made him keel over.

Good record? Nope! Vickery missed rounds 13 and 14 after being suspended for striking North Melbourne's Michael Firrito during the Roos 28-point round 12 victory. He still has 43.75 carryover points from that incident.

It was the only incident of note during a scrappy opening half that was played mainly in heavy rain.

Atrocious conditions resulted in second-rate skills, as moving the ball forward, by any means possible, became the priority. The game was bogged down by stoppages, with Nic Naitanui having 50 of the Eagles 79 hit-outs, against the Tigers' 39.

Richmond could have led by more than 11 points at half-time though, if it had done better than 2.4 from 14 inside-50 entries in the second term.

But the night was not a good one for key forwards – although Jack Riewoldt's only goal, kicked 24 minutes into the final term, sealed the result for Richmond.

Trent Cotchin's soccer goal in the opening minute of the second half to give the Tigers a 17-point lead, however, was the highlight of the game.

It wasn't the best night for Cotchin, who entered the game in hot form, but while he was restricted to 15 possessions, a lot of what he did was cleaner than most others.

And the Tigers got plenty of run from Dustin Martin, Brett Deledio and Brandon Ellis.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, Cox's replacement was 191cm forward Simon Tunbridge – joining Jeremy McGovern, Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling in attack.

Tunbridge was selected as the sub ahead of emergencies Sharrod Wellingham, Josh Hill and Jamie Bennell, all running players. And when he kicked a goal five minutes into the third term, it appeared a good decision. However the home side was top heavy.

As it was, his goal, and Darling's in the final term were the only majors that the Eagles managed in the second half.

Richmond remains in 12th spot on the ladder – two wins behind eighth-placed Collingwood, which plays Adelaide on Saturday.

"He's not good. It wasn't good. He's gone," a fuming Eagles coach Adam Simpson said of Cox at half-time.

At one point, Vickery verbally lashed out at some fans who were abusing him near the Tigers' dugout.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said the exchange wasn't ideal, but he understood why Vickery bit back.

"If you've got a couple of lunatics hanging over the fence yelling abuse - I don't know any other profession in the world where you can walk into a bank and start calling them names like that," Hardwick said.

"But it is what it is. I'd prefer it if Ty didn't react to the fans, but it's a volatile game. It's a hard game."

Simpson was still fuming about the Vickery-Cox incident after the match, but refused to be drawn into the controversy.

"It will deal with itself throughout the week," he said.

With aap