Lightning, Pies can't stop Tigers in AFLW finals chase

Richmond have overcome a lengthy lightning delay to press their AFLW finals case with a dominant 36-point win over Collingwood.

Ellie McKenzie and Monique Conti were outstanding for the Tigers, who prevailed 7.4 (46) to 1.4 (10) in wild weather at Punt Road on Saturday.

There was drama at half-time when a lightning storm concerned league officials, who postponed the start of the third quarter.

The lightning eventually cleared and play resumed on a waterlogged surface about half an hour later than originally scheduled.

Richmond handled the disruption best, kicking four unanswered goals after the extended main break.

McKenzie finished with two goals from 18 disposals, while Conti relished the wet conditions in tallying 29 touches and seven clearances.

The result gave the Tigers a 5-2 record ahead of another home clash with Geelong in round seven.

"I thought it was a mature four-quarter performance," Richmond coach Ryan Ferguson said.

"We prepared for any conditions because we knew the weather might be around.

"We've played wet-weather footy the last couple of weeks, so we were quite confident (the weather) didn't really matter.

"But we knew Collingwood would be up and about after last week's win and we wanted to snuff that (enthusiasm) out early.

"To come out after half-time and stay composed and start the game again and assert our authority, I was really happy with that."

Collingwood (1-6) are all but out of finals contention with four games left to play.

Ravaged by injuries in the first half of the season, the Magpies fielded arguably their strongest team so far on Saturday, but were held to their lowest score of the campaign.

McKenzie was the most influential player on the ground before half-time, with her two goals from eight disposals setting up the Tigers' 14-point buffer at the main break.

Tamara Luke and Eilish Sheerin also finished with two majors each.

Kate Dempsey (23 disposals), Grace Egan (19) and Jodie Hicks (18) were busy for Richmond, with Sarah Rowe (28), Brittany Bonnici (23) and Ruby Schleicher (21) the Magpies' best ball-winners.

Richmond got on top in clearances (33-23) and contested possessions (123-104), and generated a landslide advantage in inside-50s (41-19).

"Any time you get conditions like that it makes it quite difficult, but I still think there was some good football played in there," Collingwood coach Sam Wright said.

"For us as a developing side and where we're at, we can take a lot out of the way they moved the ball around the contest.

"Their ability to move the ball, flick the ball around and get you through the stoppage (was impressive).

"We're not at that level yet, but that's where we aspire to be at the stoppage."

Collingwood dealt with a similar lightning delay during a pre-season fixture in Perth less than two months ago.

"The scoreboard would say (we didn't handle it well), but I thought the girls were ready to go," Wright said.

"We threw a few things around in the last half trying to educate the girls and trying to expose individuals to different positions on the ground.

"It's not the result we want, but it certainly gives us a lot of evidence either way that we'll have a look at."