King hails Dusty 2.0: “Everything he touched turned to gold”

Richmond pulled off a remarkable comeback to claim a stirring Round 1 win over Carlton at the MCG on Thursday night.

The youthful Tigers trailed by 41 points in the second quarter before staging an unexpected fightback to down the much more seasoned Blues by 13 points.

One of the young stars on show was No.1 draft pick Sam Lalor.

He looked at home on the big stage with 18 disposals, two goals and two goal assists, plus eight score involvements which ranked second on the ground only behind Carlton captain Patrick Cripps (9).

Lalor, 18, produced some massive moments and has swiftly endeared himself to the Tiger Army, as well as many in the footy media landscape.

SEN Breakfast’s David King saw what most of us saw in Lalor - a striking comparison to Tigers great Dustin Martin.

He says the Bacchus Marsh product is a Dusty reincarnate.

“It was an unbelievable game,” King said on SEN Breakfast.

“It was good to be there and see these young kids just go crazy and this young bloke (Lalor) announcing the fact that they’ve got the No.1 pick absolutely spot on.

“Oh my god, how good was he! If I’m Adem Yze, I’m taking him to the tattoo parlour today, I’m getting at least a dozen stickers up and down both sleeves, a few on the thighs.

“He is No.4 reincarnated. He was amazing. Everything he touched turned to gold.

“His handball inside traffic to outside created so many easy scores for his teammates. How is this guy seeing the game so clearly in his first 100 minutes of footy?”

Co-host Kane Cornes was also effusive in his praise of Lalor who was one of three Tigers debutants alongside fellow 2024 draftees Luke Trainor and Harry Armstrong.

He also sees the Martin similarities.

“He is all of that,” Cornes added.

“When he took that floating mark on the outer wing in the first quarter… then the belief that they’ve got in him already, to start him centre bounce in the last quarter.

“The game is on the line, you go to Cripps, no worries. He was able to equip himself so well.

“When have you known you’ve got someone good? Whatever happens, Richmond have got this guy for 15 years, hopefully, to go and watch him, and that’s enough.

“There were about five ‘can’t teach that’ moments. A phenomenal debut.”

After some recent comments about Richmond coach Adem Yze’s perceived lack of aura, Cornes was the recipient of many a social media message in the wake of the Tigers win.

In the middle of the Twitter avalanche he was able to tip his hat to a stunning triumph.

“It’s one of the best home and away wins I’ve ever seen,” Cornes said.

“Honestly, one of the best and most shocking home and away wins I’ve ever seen.

“The first thing they (Richmond fans) think of is me and aura. Just enjoy it. Everyone rushed straight to Twitter and tagged me into your aura rubbish - just enjoy the win, it was unbelievable.”

The Tigers shocked the entire footy world in pulling off the win despite playing a team with an average age of 24 years, 10 months and 76.2 average games, as opposed to Carlton’s 26 years and two months, and 109.1 games.

They’ll look to back it up when they travel to the Adelaide Oval to take on Port Adelaide next Saturday while Michael Voss and the Blues will be desperate to bounce back against Hawthorn at the MCG on Thursday night.