Lemon's winners and losers, AFL Round 23

For weeks I have insisted that Richmond would not make the finals. On Saturday Richmond made the finals. In the last Winners and Losers wrap for the year one victor stands above all others, resplendent in yellow and black.

When talk of the Tigers and September began a few weeks back it had the taste of AFL media trying to beat up interest in a dead subject. While finals were technically possible these outlets knew it wasn’t going to happen, they were just leading on a few suckers while they could still get away with it.

CATCH UP ON THE LATEST AFL HIGHLIGHTS

Even up to last week I was saying in various forums that because a Richmond finals appearance relied on winning in Sydney, it was a theoretical proposition with no chance of being realised. Discussing the prospect was futile.

Other things fell Richmond’s way: Adelaide and West Coast losses came at the right times; Collingwood’s late-season implosion. A spot in the eight opened up with a flashing ‘vacancy’ sign. But to zoom into it still required that final trip to beat the top-of-the-ladder team, the flag favourites, on their own occasional turf.

Various Sydney fans warned me of the Tigers’ propensity for northern wins, but I just couldn’t see it happening. 2014 Richmond had been good but not great, salvaging something from an embarrassing start with a winning streak against mid-range opposition. They were 2014 Carlton with a bit more poise.

Really, the Sydney win fitted this perception pretty well. With nothing to gain from the match, the Swans rested Lance Franklin and surely didn’t go as hard as they otherwise would. The Tigers had a brilliant burst, a stack of dodgy moments, struggled to score after quarter time, and somehow cobbled together an effort that kept Sydney at bay. It was unconvincing, entertaining and inspiring in equal measure.

This is the thing. You can find fault with any one part of Richmond’s year. But when you look at what they’ve achieved in its broader context, it’s undeniably impressive.

The Tigers have stormed into the finals, but will they keep winning or is it mission accomplished? (Photo: Anthony Pearse/AFL Media)

To win nine in a row is a good run for any side. To do it after registering three wins and ten losses is hard to believe. As far as I can tell, to recover and make the finals from such a low is unprecedented.

It would perhaps have been even harder to keep their composure as their slight chance of recovery became apparent. Hopelessness can be more liberating than the prospect of success. The odds of another narrow finals miss haunted the club. Yet the spectre of finishing ninth or tenth became eighth; a win from the finals became a win for the finals.

It was a brilliant and joyful day. However Sydney viewed the match, Richmond gave it everything. The lasting image of that game should be Alex Rance hobbling about on one leg still trying to get to the contest. The image of the season should be barrel-chested Brandon Ellis steaming away from packs. More than anyone, he represents the fluctuating fortunes of this Tiger team; the bridgeable gulfs between potential, actual and aspirational.

It will be grand for the finals to include the relief and enthusiasm of the Tiger army, and to include the only team with a song that doesn’t make you want to beat your head against a concrete MCG pylon.

Richmond will travel to play Port Adelaide in week one, and the way they’re going they might just win. Manage that and they’ll travel to Sydney again or to Perth to face Fremantle in week two. It’s a hard road but they’ll enjoy the miles.

Hopefully Richmond do entertain us in the finals, given their win ruined the chance of Gold Coast, West Coast and Adelaide playing off for that last spot in the eight. What was supposed to be a Super Sunday had more dead rubbers than a highway truck stop.

With other results going as expected and most spots filled, the only other major winners were Fremantle, at their best in a brilliant game of football against Port to decide fourth and fifth.

Until the third quarter it was barely more than goal for goal, with the lead swapping back and forth and plenty of time spent level. But the Grapes channelled the energy of their Subiaco crowd from the third quarter to slam through nine goals in a row, obliterating any talk of defensive Ross Lyon sides.

With their recent win over Hawthorn and with gun midfielder Nathan Fyfe to return, Freo will be plenty confident ahead of their first final in Sydney. If they fail, they could be facing off against Port again in a couple of weeks.

Port then bagged five late goals of their own to prove they weren’t out of the contest, but ran out of time in a match decided by eight points. That didn’t make them huge losers out of the deal.

Finishing fourth or fifth, their likely preliminary final destination would still be to the MCG to play Hawthorn or Geelong. In finishing fifth they’ll need to get there via Richmond at home then Fremantle away. Had they finished fourth they would have travelled to Sydney for a probable loss, then faced Fremantle at home.

While it didn’t affect the ladder, I should make mention of the Western Bulldogs’ loss, with Jake Stringer probably feeling like a loser this week. The Dogs wanted to farewell Daniel Giansiracusa with a win against Greater Western Sydney, a last tribute for such a loyal servant to the club.

With scores level and 30 seconds to go, Stringer got clear on the lead within range of goal, had a kick coming straight to him, and somehow let the ball through his hands to hit him on the forehead. GWS swept it up the other end to score and win the game.

Still, it’s been an encouraging year for the Bulldogs, as for a few teams down that end of the ladder. Carlton, Brisbane, Gold Coast and GWS all have cause for optimism. We could have an increasingly even competition, even by this year’s standard.

Finally, something we haven’t had to address before; the round’s biggest drawers were Carlton and Essendon. We nearly got through an entire season without a draw, then nearly had two in the final round.

And that, my friends, is that for Lemon’s Winners and Losers in 2014. The format seems on the redundant side for finals, when it will be readily apparent whose fortunes have been affected in which way by each result.

It has been a pleasure going down the comment-section rabbit hole with you each week, mulling over the permutations, ramifications, frustrations, protestations, radio stations and transubstantiations of the game with Roar readers from far and wide. Thanks for the chats, I’ll see you around the site as the finals unfold.