AS REALITY checks go, this one was brutal. Geelong showed emerging Richmond just how much more it must improve to challenge the best sides with an emphatic 63-point victory at Telstra Dome last night.

The Tigers have prided themselves on resilience this season, and knew they would need to hang tough to have any hope of toppling the premier. Still, they came into the game on a three-match roll, having shown true grit in each of those victories, and amid whispers that the upset of the season was not beyond the realms of possibility.

To their credit, the Tigers were not blown away as they have been in recent encounters with the Cats, but in the end the serious resistance lasted not much more than a quarter.

An already tall order became overwhelming when classy Nathan Brown succumbed to a virus before the game, Cameron Ling came back from his fractured cheekbone and didn't miss a beat in closing down Nathan Foley at the stoppages and Matthew Richardson was forced to stay close to goal after appearing to badly jar his knee as he slid into a marking attempt early in the second term.

Richmond made a promising start when Mitch Morton capitalised on a rare Darren Milburn turnover and Jack Riewoldt slotted a set shot. The young