The AFL will have an opening week of finals featuring matches across four states after Richmond defeated the Brisbane Lions by 27 points at the MCG yesterday.
In securing the finals double chance, Richmond not only denied the Lions the first minor premiership of their post-merger era, they also set up a qualifying final rematch at the Gabba in a fortnight.
There will be a home final for West Coast against Essendon in Perth, a blockbuster at the MCG between top-placed Geelong and fourth-placed Collingwood, and Greater Western Sydney will host the Western Bulldogs.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said he will consider changing tactics against the Lions’ star midfielder Lachie Neale, who had an astonishing 51 possessions and 14 clearances, which helped seal him stitch up The Age Footballer of the Year award.
The Tigers coach said he felt all eight teams had the capacity to progress deep into September. ‘‘We were talking about this before the game today actually. Where it used to be a significant advantage to finish top four, I’m not sure it’s quite as pronounced as it used to be back in the day,’’ Hardwick said.
‘‘Whether the bye has got anything to do with it I’m not too sure. It’s more to do with the fact that sides are more equally matched and on any given day at this stage of the year can beat the other if they’re not switched on.’’
Richmond, however, are the premiership favourite. A crowd of 76,995 – a record for a home-and-away match involving any Fitzroy or Brisbane team – watched them control the match against the top-of-the-ladder Lions from the outset, kicking five of the first six goals.
Packed to the rafters: A big crowd was in attendance at the MCG to watch Richmond take on Brisbane in the last home-and-away round of the year.Credit: AAP
Lions coach Chris Fagan said he hoped his inexperienced team would learn from the match and use it when the two teams meet again in a fortnight. ‘‘The bottom line is that it was an even contest after quarter-time,’’ Fagan said. ‘‘We’ll get plenty of learning out of this match.’’
He said the ‘‘art of playing finals’’ would now be to try to keep things as normal as possible for his group. ‘‘The biggest mistake you can make in finals is to think that you’ve got to raise everything by 25to 30 per cent. It’s not that, it’s just doing what you do well over and over and over again.’’
Hardwick said they would tackle their Gabba assignment the same as any other mid-year interstate trip, adding the group enjoyed the challenges and bonding that came with heading interstate to play.
“We'll have a look at (that) no doubt. That's the good and bad thing that you play the same side two weeks in a row, we'll get a good look at what they did and they'll also get a really good look at what we did as well," he said.
"We try to quell the influence at the source, and he's very agile in and around the stoppages. His agility can get him in and out of traffic pretty quickly but [it also makes] you reactive as well.”
Hardwick was pleased that his captain Trent Cotchin managed to get a game under his belt. Playing just his 11th match of the season, due to a series of hamstring injuries, Cotchin struggled to get his hands on the football early and looked rusty at times, finishing with 15 disposals.
Ruckman Toby Nankervis is likely to line up with Richmond’s top of the table VFL team when they begin their finals campaign next weekend. He is battling an adductor injury and has missed more than half of the season through injury, playing just one AFL match since round seven.
Fagan said the Lions were likely to recall small forward Allen Christensen (hamstring), who has September experience, having played in seven finals including the 2011 premiership with Geelong.