Tony Greenberg reflects on his top 10 memories of Richmond final home-and-away round matches.

1. 1967 v Geelong, Kardinia Park

Richmond clinches top spot on the ladder at the completion of the home-and-away season for the first time since 1944 with a 12-point win over eventual Grand Final opponent Geelong at its home fortress in a high-quality encounter. The Tigers sow the seeds for their success with a nine-goal opening quarter blitz. Exciting, young key forward Royce Hart, in his debut season with Richmond, finishes with six goals, while clever small forward Billy Brown boots five majors.

2. 1969 v Footscray, MCG

Having climbed into the top four by virtue of a stirring come-from-behind victory over Carlton the previous round, continuing a bold winning run since mid-season, Richmond needs to beat Footscray at the ‘G’ to ensure a finals berth. The Tigers proceed to demolish the Dogs by 90 points with Billy Brown again kicking five goals and will-o’-the-wisp half-forward John Northey scoring four six-pointers.

3. 1979 v Essendon, Windy Hill

In a sign of things to come the following season, Richmond finishes Tony Jewell’s first season as coach with an eye-catching, upset win against the Bombers on their home deck. Key forwards Michael Roach (seven goals) and David Cloke (three goals) dominate, while eventual 1980 premiership captain Bruce Monteath racks up 36 disposals (with two goals) in a superb performance.

4. 1980 v South Melbourne, Lake Oval

The Tigers sit on top of the ladder, as they make the trip to South’s picturesque home ground for what’s expected to be a comfortable win that would secure automatic entry into the second semi-final. But, even though the Swans are out of the finals race, and seemingly don’t have much to play for, they whip the flag favourites by 54 points in extremely blustery conditions. As a result, Richmond slips to third place and a qualifying final meeting with Carlton (but subsequently win all three finals that September in emphatic fashion to take the flag).

5. 1988 v Fitzroy, MCG

Talented full-forward Jeff Hogg paves the way for a massive Yellow and Black final round win in Kevin Bartlett’s first season as coach, kicking nine goals in a brilliant display. Justin Pickering also hits the scoreboard strongly with five goals, as the Tigers record a whopping 103-point victory.

6. 1990 v Sydney, SCG

The clear highlight of a 30-point win by Richmond, to finish the ’90 season on a good note, is the amazing goal kicked by Tiger excitement machine Michael Mitchell. After gathering the ball deep in defence, Mitchell decides to take the game on in typically bold style. He takes a bounce, then another, followed by five more – seven bounces all-up – before calmly slotting it through for a brilliant, inspirational goal, which is subsequently judged ‘Goal of the Year, and the Tigers’ Goal of the Century.

7. 1997 v Carlton, Princes Park

Trailing by about seven goals during the third quarter, Richmond stages a fantastic fightback to snatch a two-point victory and knock the Blues out of finals contention. Former Blue Ben Harrison kicks the winning goal for the Tigers from a set shot.

8. 1999 v Carlton, MCG

All the drama on this Friday night occurs before the opening bounce, when the MCG scoreboard at the city end of the ground catches fire. The start of the match is delayed by about half an hour, and the fire is subsequently deemed to have been caused by an electrical fault. Richmond goes on to win a relatively uneventful on-field contest by 11 points.

9. 2001 v Essendon, MCG

The Tigers enter this match against the ladder leaders needing a win to secure the double chance. With dynamic tall forward duo Matthew Richardson (five goals) and Brad Ottens (four goals) in full flight, they account for Essendon by 24 points. Unfortunately, it’s a different story altogether a week later, when the two teams meet in the qualifying final, with the Bombers scoring a decisive 70-point victory.

10. 2014 v Sydney, Stadium Australia

Richmond’s fairytale finish to the 2014 home-and-away series is complete, when it grabs a spine-tingling two-point victory over Sydney at Stadium Australia. After 13 matches that season, the Tigers were in 16th place on the ladder, with just three wins, and five games out of the top eight. Their ninth win on-the-trot, and finals-sealing success against the Swans, was built on the back of Jack Riewoldt’s influence up forward (four goals) and Alex Rance’s incredible rock-solid efforts across the backline, especially during the frenetic final quarter.