With Richmond playing host to the Western Bulldogs at the MCG tomorrow in Round 23 of the 2018 season, Tony Greenberg reflects on the Tigers’ final-round history against the Dogs.

There’s good news and bad news when it comes to assessing Richmond’s record against the Western Bulldogs/Footscray in the final round of home-and-away seasons throughout league football history.

The bad news is that Richmond has won just two of seven games v the Dogs in last round of a season.

The good news is that the Tigers have gone on to win the premiership three times in those seven years.

In Round 20 of the 1969 season, Richmond thrashed Footscray by 90 points at the MCG to clinch fourth place on the ladder (under the final-four system), and a month later defeated Carlton by 25 points in the Grand Final.

In Round 22 of the 1973 season, the Tigers lost to the Bulldogs by one point at the MCG, before going on to again beat the Blues in the Grand Final, this time by 30 points.

The following season, Richmond made the trek out to the Western Oval, as it was known back then, and suffered a seven-point defeat at the hands of the Dogs in what was the great Kevin Bartlett’s 200^th game. Four weeks after that, however, the Tigers made it back-to-back premierships with a 41-point triumph over North Melbourne in the Grand Final.

Here’s how Richmond has fared in all of its final-round matches against the Bulldogs so far...

- Round 18, 1926, Punt Road Oval: Lost by 44 points – 6.13 (49) to 13.15 (93).
- Round 18, 1960, Western Oval: Lost by 40 points – 11.11 (77) to 18.9 (117).
- Round 20, 1969, MCG: Won by 90 points – 23.16 (154) to 9.10 (64).
- Round 22, 1970, Western Oval: Lost by 10 points – 10.12 (72) to 12.10 (82).
- Round 22, 1973, MCG: Lost by one point – 10.16 (76) to 11.11 (77).
- Round 22, 1974, Western Oval: Lost by seven points – 11.14 (80) to 13.9 (87).
- Round 22, 1978, Waverley Park: Won by 53 points – 19.20 (134) to 11.15 (81).