Richmond’s season is over after succumbing to Carlton in the first elimination final at the MCG on Sunday.
The Blues clawed their way back from a 32-point deficit to win by 20 points, before a record elimination final crowd of 94,690.
Carlton only earned their finals spot after seventh-placed Essendon was ruled out of September action by the AFL and looked set for an early exit when they trailed by more than five goals points at the three-minute mark of the third term.
It was a heartbreaking return to the finals for the Tigers after 12 long years, with the yellow and black army largely responsible for swelling the crowd to the biggest number for a week-one final since the introduction of the final five in 1972.
The previous highest crowd was 91,900 at the 1972 Richmond-Collingwood qualifying final.
The Tigers' cause was not helped when Reece Conca appeared to suffer a severe hamstring injury a little more than 10 minutes into the game.
Substitute Shane Tuck was brought on to replace Conca almost immediately and the early substitution would have been a factor in the Tigers' inability to match the Blues' run in the second half.
The Tigers' senior players led the way for their young team, with Brett Deledio (24 possessions) and Trent Cotchin (26) showing they belonged on the September stage.
Dustin Martin (19 possessions) was outstanding in the first three quarters but faded from the game in the final term.
Richmond showed no signs of nerves in their return to the finals, dominating general play in the first quarter. The Tigers had 19 inside 50s to the Blues' six but their inaccuracy in front of goal meant they led by just eight points at quarter-time.
The Tigers looked set to skip out to a match-winning lead early in the second term, when they rammed on four straight goals to lead by 25 points at the 10-minute mark.
But from there the Blues started to work their way back into the game, kicking three of the next five goals to get back to within 20 points late in the term.
They could have been even closer too, but gave away four costly 50m penalties in the first half, three of which resulted in Richmond goals.
And a Trent Cotchin goal after the half-time siren sent the Tigers into the main break with a handy 26-point lead.
RICHMOND 3.5 10.7 12.10 14.11 (95)
CARLTON 2.3 6.5 12.7 18.8 (116)
GOALS
Richmond: Vickery 2, Cotchin 2, Edwards 2, Maric 2, Riewoldt, Grimes, Newman, Martin, Tuck, Ellis,
Carlton: Waite 4, Duigan 4, Betts 3, Garlett 2, Robinson 2, Warnock, Scotland, Judd
BEST
Richmond: Deledio, Cotchin, Martin, Rance, Newman,
Carlton: Judd, Murphy, Curnow, Duigan, Betts, Waite, Gibbs
INJURIES
Richmond: Conca (hamstring)
Carlton: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Shane Tuck replaced Reece Conca (hamstring) in the first quarter.
Carlton: Troy Menzel replaced Andrew McInnes in the final quarter.
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Farmer, Nicholls, Meredith
Official crowd: 94,690 at the MCG
