After winning just two of its first six games this season, Richmond has qualified for the 2022 finals series in seventh place with 13 wins, one draw and eight losses.

Coach Damien Hardwick provided a summary of the Tigers’ home-and-away season, and spoke about the team’s finals prospects, following the convincing 66-point victory over Essendon in last night’s Round 23 clash at the MCG.

“There’s some games we certainly should have won that we didn’t, obviously, with some close finishes. But I think primarily we look at what we value with our indicators, and they’re pretty strong,” Hardwick said in his post-match press conference.

“They’re up there with the best sides in the league . . . We’ve still got some areas that we can get a little bit better at. But, overall, we’re reasonably happy.

“Like most coaches, there’s always stuff we’ll work on, but we make finals again . . . it’s a good result.”

“I think it’s one thing we don’t do overly well as an industry, to have a winning season . . . to qualify for finals.

"It’s such a tough, tough environment to be in, and as we’ve seen this year, it’s an incredibly even competition . .  .

“We’re just excited to give ourselves a chance to play in a final . . . We think we’re a very, very good side when we play our best footy. We’re looking forward to the challenge.

“I think this year there’s been a couple of sides at the top of the ladder that are probably standouts, but then it’s pretty even after that.

“What we do know is you’ve got to be playing your best footy at the right time.

“We’ve given ourselves a chance. We’re playing some pretty good footy . . .”