The Tigers currently sit in 13th place on the league ladder after eight rounds this season with a 3-5 win-loss record and a percentage of 103.
Since 1994, when the league returned to a 22-round home-and-away season, there have been seven instances of teams being in a comparable position to Richmond, at the same time of the year, with five of them going on to make the finals.
In a particularly even 1998 season (similar to this one), three teams were 3-5 with percentages of more than 100 after eight rounds - Adelaide (110.9%), West Coast (106.9%) and Essendon (103.9%).
Adelaide finished fifth on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season, with a 13-9 record (123.2%), and then produced something extra special in September to take out the premiership (its second in-a-row).
West Coast clinched seventh place, with a 12-10 record (109.4%), and was bundled out of the finals race by the Western Bulldogs in the third qualifying final.
Essendon claimed eighth spot, with a 12-10 record (108.6%), and had its season ended by North Melbourne in the fourth qualifying final.
North Melbourne, which finished on top of the ladder after the home-and-away series, with a 16-6 record, was beaten by the Crows in the Grand Final.
Three years later, the Sydney Swans were 3-5 after eight rounds of the 2001 season, with a percentage of 100.7.
They rallied to finish seventh with a 12-10 record (115.7%), before losing their elimination final against Hawthorn.
The Swans did it again in 2004, coming from 3-5 after eight rounds, with a percentage of 103.4, to reach the finals. They finished sixth at the completion of the ’04 home-and-away season, with a 13-9 record (107.4) and then defeated West Coast convincingly in an elimination final, before bowing out the following week, losing to St Kilda in the semi-final.
Only Sydney in 1995 (3-5 and 107.1% after eight rounds) and Melbourne in 2010 (3-5 and 100.8% after eight rounds) did not manage to go on and play finals football the same year during this period.blog comments powered by Disqus
