A combined seven goals from Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin have helped Richmond ignite their AFL season with a 24-point upset win over Geelong.
The Tigers booted six majors in their best opening quarter of the year and held the Cats at bay to post a 16.6 (102) to 11.12 (78) victory at the MCG on Friday night.
Meanwhile the Gold Coast Suns enjoyed a convincing win over a poor West Coast side, smashing the Eagles in Perth by 70 points.
Richmond (3-1-5) have now won consecutive games for the first time in 2023 after ending a five-match losing streak in round eight.
But the latest triumph came at a cost, with midfielder Jacob Hopper substituted out of the game with a left calf muscle injury during the third quarter.
Cotchin returned after a week out of the Tigers' side and kicked three goals in his biggest tally in seven years, offering an important contribution at half-forward.
Martin booted four from 19 touches and Tim Taranto starred again with game-high tallies of 28 disposals, 12 tackles and six clearances.
Jayden Short (26 touches), Liam Baker (21) and Daniel Rioli (23) were all busy, while Dion Prestia celebrated his 200th game in style with 19 disposals and a goal.
Jack Riewoldt and Rhyan Mansell booted two each.
Tom Stewart was jeered by a contingent of Tigers fans in the 58,141-strong crowd still angry about the Geelong star flattening Dion Prestia in an ugly incident 11 months ago.
The Cats' stand-in captain stepped up in the absence of injured skipper Patrick Dangerfield and had 24 disposals in a solid display.
But Geelong lacked spark, with Dangerfield one of eight premiership players missing through injury or suspension, and suffered their first defeat since round three.
Tom Hawkins kicked three goals from 11 disposals and had two goal assists in a tough battle with Richmond defender Noah Balta (17 touches, 11 intercepts).
Isaac Smith had 23 disposals and kicked a brilliant second-quarter goal on the boundary line.
Richmond fielded more premiership players than Geelong - 15 to 14 - despite their most recent flag coming three years ago.
Friday night's result was the Tigers' first win over the Cats since the 2020 grand final.
Gold Coast are dominating West Coast at Perth Stadium, while Richmond celebrate a much-needed upset win over Geelong.
Follow the live scores, stats and results below.
Suns make light work of Eagles
West Coast's season from hell has taken another turn for the worse after Jack Darling and Jamaine Jones were injured in a 70-point thumping at the hands of Gold Coast at Perth Stadium.
The Suns piled on eight goals to one in a dominant second quarter on the way to posting the 16.17 (113) to 6.7 (43) win in front of a dejected crowd of 36,219 in a Friday night fizzer.
Damningly, West Coast lost the contested possession tally 43-16 in the second term in one of the most insipid quarters in the club's history.
It allowed Gold Coast to build a 50-point lead by half-time.
Adding to West Coast's woes, Jones was subbed out at half-time with a broken nose, while out-of-form forward Darling injured his left arm in the third quarter.
It means the Eagles' injury list now stands at 18 players.
Darling tried to play on through the injury, but he winced in pain whenever his arm copped a knock and struggled to make an impact.
The premiership forward finished the match with just 0.1, five marks and seven disposals.
In contrast, his direct opponent Charlie Ballard was one of the most dominant figures on the field with 11 marks — eight of which were contested.
Ballard's 10 intercept marks was an equal AFL record.
Suns midfielder Matt Rowell continued his pre-match tradition by munching on a piece of the stadium's turf.
He then got to work by destroying West Coast's midfield on the way to 29 possessions, six clearances, one goal and a remarkable 17 tackles.
Jarrod Witts (48 hitouts) was a monster in the ruck, while spearhead Ben King booted four goals.
West Coast's record for the year stands at 1-8, putting them in major danger of collecting the wooden spoon.
The Eagles have now won just three of their past 35 matches.
West Coast's defence fought valiantly to hold the fort in an opening quarter in which the Suns won the inside 50m count 18-6.
The Eagles scored 2.3 from their six entries, and they would have gone into quarter-time with a shock lead if it wasn't for a clever fend-off and snap from Mabior Chol with just 20 seconds remaining.
The second quarter was pure and simply an embarrassment for West Coast as Gold Coast finally cashed in on their dominance.
The Suns won the clearances 14-3 for the term and the inside 50m count 17-5 on the way to booting 8.5 to West Coast's 1.2.
King kicked three goals for the quarter — including two in the space of a minute to break the game open — while Rowell continued to terrorise in the midfield.
Whatever Eagles coach Adam Simpson said at half-time seemed to work as West Coast came out firing in the third quarter with two quick goals.
Gold Coast didn't boot a goal for the term, but they came home strongly in the fourth to get an important percentage-boosting win.
The Suns' third win from their past four games improved their record to 4-5 ahead of next week's crunch clash with Brisbane at the Gabba.
