Third place on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away rounds has yet again proven to be the successful launching pad for a Richmond premiership.

The Tigers have won their past four flags from that position on the ladder.

In 1980, Richmond slipped from top spot on the ladder to third (with 16 wins, five losses and a draw) after losing the final match of the home-and-away season to South Melbourne at the Lake Oval.

But the Tigers bounced back strongly to convincingly defeat second-placed Carlton (17 wins, five losses) in the qualifying final and then ladder leader Geelong (17 wins, five losses) in the second semi-final, before crushing Collingwood, fifth (14 wins, seven losses and a draw), in the Grand Final.

In 2017, Richmond, third on the ladder after the last home-and-away round (15 wins, seven losses) scored a resounding qualifying final victory over second-placed Geelong (15 wins, six losses and a draw), comfortably accounted for Greater Western Sydney, fourth (14 wins, six losses, two draws), in the preliminary final, and then thumped ladder leader Adelaide (15 wins, six losses and a draw) in the Grand Final to win its first premiership for 37 years.

Last year, the third-placed Tigers (16 wins, six losses) travelled to Queensland to take on the Brisbane Lions, who had finished second (16 wins, six losses) in the qualifying final at the Gabba. They overpowered the Lions to advance to the preliminary final, where they beat the top-of-the-table Geelong (16  wins, six losses), setting up a Grand Final encounter with sixth-placed Greater Western Sydney (13 wins, nine losses).

For the third consecutive time, they captured the premiership from third place on the ladder, demolishing GWS in the 2019 Grand Final.

This year, following another third-placed, home-and-away finish, Richmond (12 wins, one draw four losses), lost to Brisbane (14 wins, three losses) in the qualifying final. But the Tigers subsequently successfully triggered their double chance to defeat St Kilda (10 wins, seven losses) in a cut-throat semi-final. They then were able to overcome the significant challenge of playing minor premier Port Adelaide (14 wins, three losses) at Adelaide Oval in the preliminary final to make it through to the Grand Final.

And Richmond continued its remarkable run to premiership glory from third position on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season with a rousing 31-point victory over Geelong (12 wins, five losses) in the 2020 Grand Final at the Gabba.