Richmond have stormed to the top of the AFL ladder with a late burst sealing a 46-point win over a fading Melbourne in the Anzac Day eve clash at the MCG.

The Demons trailed by just six points in the third quarter, but the Tigers slammed home seven of the last nine goals of the game to score a 15.12 (102) to 8.8 (56) win in front of 77,071 fans.

Dustin Martin was quiet early but warmed into the contest to finish with 26 possessions, including 10 clearances.

Live summary

Loading...

Kane Lambert (29 disposals), Shane Edwards (26) and Bachar Houli (26) were also important, while Jack Higgins led the way in attack with three goals in just his second game.

It was another uneven performance from Melbourne, who slipped to a 2-3 record with the loss.

The Demons endured nine days of intense criticism after their limp effort in a 67-point thumping by Hawthorn and they started like they had a point to prove.

But while they had the Tigers on the back foot, they let themselves down with costly skill errors.

Live stats

Loading...

Richmond soaked up the early pressure and counter-attacked effectively when opportunities presented to lead by three points at the first break.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin conceded his erratic team couldn't be trusted in the lead-up to the big clash and they wilted under the Tigers' pressure in the second quarter.

Martin and Reece Conca got on top at the stoppages and Richmond should have been more than 20 points up at halftime after dominating the inside-50 count 19-5.

The Demons suffered a blow when Dean Kent's night ended with a hamstring injury, but they took the fight back up to the Tigers after the restart.

Clayton Oliver (31 possessions) and Nathan Jones (30) provided the spark as the margin was sliced to just six points, but as they had done all night, Damien Hardwick's men answered the challenge.

They led by 19 points at three-quarter time and finished the fading Demons in clinical fashion.

AFL ladder