Carlton spearhead Brendan Fevola produced a brilliant nine-goal haul to lift the Blues to an important 16.13 (109) to 12.17 (89) AFL win over Richmond at the MCG on Saturday.

It was a career-best haul, with all of his goals coming after quarter-time to light up a game which badly needed a spark.

The Blues trailed by a point after an error-laden first quarter in which both sides struggled to adapt to difficult, windy conditions.

But from that point, Fevola was the clear difference in the match, producing some beautiful goals and kicking 9.1 while at the other end Richmond lacked a dominant presence in attack and wasted many scoring chances.

Fevola gave Carlton the lead with the opening goal of the second quarter, taking the ball off opponent Will Thursfield's hands in a marking contest and snapping from about 25m.

He kicked another midway through the term and when teammate Greg Bentley goaled after marking a kick-in from Richmond's Chris Newman nearing time-on Carlton had pulled 20 points ahead.

The Tigers threatened to fight back into the contest, with two quick goals to livewire forward pocket Robin Nahas, both after he won free kicks close to goal with tackles.

Nahas had earlier set up Richmond's only other goal of the quarter, when he beat two opponents with a dashing run at half-forward.

But, after he cut the margin to eight points, Fevola kicked the final two goals of the first half to reassert Carlton's authority.

The first came from a simple mark on the lead, but the last goal of the half was a gem.

Fevola scooped up a Jeff Garlett pass on the bounce with Thursfield on his tail.

Unable to break free from Thursfield, Fevola spun around in the tackle and rolled through a brilliant snap from 45m on a tight angle.

It stretched the half-time lead to 20 points and the big forward continued his hot form after the break, opening the second half with a juggling mark on the lead then a booming goal from outside 50m.

Richmond controlled the match in general play for much of the third term, with Ben Cousins picking up 10 touches for the quarter and Daniel Jackson also influential in the middle of the ground.

But the Tigers were wasteful in front of goal, kicking 1.8 for the quarter.

In contrast, the Blues kicked 4.1, with Fevola kicking three straight.

He kicked the last two of the term, showing touches of magic on both occasions.

For the first, he took a one-handed mark in front of Luke McGuane, who had replaced his initial opponent Thursfield.

Fevola's next goal was the match highlight, holding off McGuane as the ball bounced into the goalsquare then kicking it out of mid-air over his head for a major.

That put the Blues 29 points up at the last change and Fevola put the result beyond doubt when he booted his eighth after McGuane gave away a free kick early in the final quarter.

The Tigers produced a late flurry of goals to close to within 14 points nearing full-time, before Fevola received a handball in the goalsquare to kick the sealer and make it the most productive day of his career.

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