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Richmond’s loss to Carlton in the elimination final two years ago still makes Tigers fans cringe. However, the similarities between that game in 2013 and the 2015 finals loss to North Melbourne are frighteningly similar.
Both games were played on a Sunday afternoon, at 3:20pm. The weather was also similar – sunny, without a cloud in the sky.
The match was also a fifth versus eighth contest, even though Carlton made the finals through Essendon being stripped of their finals place as a result of the supplements saga. Even so, most football fans had a feeling that the Tigers would not win.
The crowds were both similar, with the 2013 final having an attendance of 94,690 and the 2015 final being viewed by 90,186 spectators.
Even the games were similar, with the Tigers holding a 20-plus margin in the second quarter of each game, only to fall away in the respective final terms. The end margins of the games were only three points apart, with the Blues defeating Richmond by 20, and the Kangaroos winning by 17 points.
In 2013, the Tiger Army farewelled Shane Tuck, while this season the club said goodbye to club champion and former captain Chris Newman. Both retirees left the MCG after games they would want to forget.
Jarrad Waite, who played against Richmond in both games, kicked four goals in each match, putting a nail in the coffin of two out of Richmond’s last three seasons.
Reece Conca has also had a role to play in the uncanny resemblance between the two games. Against the Blues, he was subbed out in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. He was again the substitute against North Melbourne, albeit this time he wore the green vest to come on instead of leaving the ground.
In the final quarter against North Melbourne, Tigers fans would have had a sense of déjà vu when Kangaroos small forward Robin Nahas took the ball on the wing in open space, just as Jeff Garlett did for Carlton two years prior. Although the latter kicked the goal, Nahas, against his former club, planted the ball on Jarrad Waite’s chest to seal the game for North.
If that isn’t all, the night before the 2013 match-up, Tony Abbott was elected as Australia’s Prime Minister, replacing Kevin Rudd. Now, a day after the 2015 final, there was another leadership change, with Abbott being replaced by Malcolm Turnbull.
Players having similar stats, the same climate, changes in Prime Minister, a crowd that is just too close to be funny, and a three-point difference in final margins? This surely cannot have been a coincidence, could it?
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