The Western Bulldogs have snapped their three-game losing streak and sent Richmond crashing back to earth with a 35-point victory at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Coming off three straight wins and against a weakened Bulldogs side without the likes of Shaun Higgins, Barry Hall, Brian Lake and Tom Williams, the Tigers were favoured by many to win this match.
But the Dogs slammed on seven goals in the opening quarter and held the Tigers at bay for the remainder of the match in a 23.15 (153) to 18.10 (118) result.
Despite being without star forwards Higgins and Hall, the Dogs found enough avenues to goals with Lindsay Gilbee kicking a career-best haul of six goals and Will Minson chiming in with four.
Jarrad Grant booted three but could have had six if he kicked straight, while youngsters Liam Jones and Tom Liberatore jagged two each.
The Dogs played through the corridor at all costs and were led superbly by Matthew Boyd (33 disposals), Callan Ward (27), Adam Cooney (27) and Daniel Cross (28), while Ben Hudson dominated the ruck and gave his midfielders first use of the ball.
Richmond looked a shadow of the team that had won the past three matches and had few winners on the day.
Jack Riewoldt did manage four goals, but he was relatively quiet, while ex-Demon Brad Miller had a decent return with three majors.
Robin Nahas continued his scintillating form with 31 touches, while Shaun Grigg and Brett Deledio saw plenty of the ball across half-back.
The Bulldogs set up their victory with a dominant seven-goal opening quarter, while the Tigers could only manage one as they continued their tendency to start slow in games.
Gilbee got the ball rolling with the first two goals inside five minutes. His first was a quick snap after a clever tap on from Griffin, while his second was a lovely set shot from 50 out on the boundary line.
The Dogs added another three through Tom Liberatore, Ryan Hargrave and Minson before the Tigers finally got their first major through Bradley Helbig, who was a late inclusion for Matthew White.
It did little to stop the momentum though as Ward added another for the hosts before Gilbee capped off a superb term with his third goal to put the Dogs up by 34 at the first change.
The Tigers still had no answer to Gilbee in the second quarter as he booted two goals in quick time, while Minson added a couple too to stretch the lead to 52 points.
Richmond threatened a little comeback with three successive goals, but Grant steadied the Dogs with a nice set shot as his side took a 32-point lead into half-time.
Whatever coach Damien Hardwick said his Tigers during the break must have fired them up as they suddenly played like the team that had won the past three matches.
They booted four goals in 10 minutes to get the Tigers faithful roaring and reduce the deficit to just 12 points.
But a miraculous snap from Robert Murphy eased the Dogs' nerves and further goals to Gilbee and Grant pushed the margin back to beyond 30 points.
Any chance Richmond thought they had was extinguished deep in time-on as Liam Jones nailed two set shots to virtually seal the result.
To the Tigers' credit they ran the game out and won the last quarter with seven goals to five, but the sting had well and truly gone out of the match by that stage.
WESTERN BULLDOGS: 7.2, 12.4, 18.11, 23.15 (153)
RICHMOND: 1.4, 6.8, 11.8, 18.10 (118)
GOALS: Western Bulldogs: Gilbee 6, Minson 4, Grant 3, Liberatore 2, Jones 2, Hargrave, Ward, Murphy, Cooney, Moles, Giansiracusa
Richmond: Riewoldt 4, Miller 3, Vickery 2, Martin 2, Foley 2, Helbig, Jackson, Nason, King, Graham
BEST: Western Bulldogs: Gilbee, Ward, Boyd, Minson, Cross, Hudson
Richmond: Nahas, Grigg, Deledio, Conca, Riewoldt
INJURIES: Western Bulldogs: Nil
Richmond: Edwards (fractured cheekbone)
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: Matthew White (Richmond) replaced in the selected side by Bradley Helbig
UMPIRES: Findlay, Jennings, McInerney
CROWD: 39,141 at Etihad Stadium