A late injury to Maurice Rioli jr gifted Richmond Kiwi debutant and rugby-league convert Mykelti Lefau an earlier than expected introduction to the MCG on Sunday.
Rioli was admitted on the brink of the opening bounce with Port Adelaide after what Richmond confirmed was 'back soreness'.
It shifted Lefau, who was named as sub for the contest, into the 22 to start on the bench.
Judson Clark put on the sub vest with the late change.
Lefau made his way onto the ground within five minutes from the start of play lining up on fellow Pasifika star Esava Ratugolea.
His first action as a senior footballer - just over a month since being elevated from the Tigers' VFL setup - was to force a contest with Port's Esava Ratugolea and bring the ball to ground coming out of their backline.
After Port took control in the opening term, Lefau was involved in the scoring giving-off to Palawa forward Rhyan Mansell for the Tigers second.
Shai Bolton added their third shortly after with a silky effort from forty after slipping a tackle from Aliir Aliir.
Shai shakes off Aliir and slots it on the run.#AFLTigersPower pic.twitter.com/DZzORH1xvx
— AFL (@AFL) March 24, 2024
Port defender and Yanyuwa also came to the bench with injury before quarter time but was quickly given the green light, according to Fox Sports, to return having only suffered a corky.
Richmond led at the half but Port powered away after the main break to win 18.14 (122) to 13.14 (92).
