Richmond has followed the same road to premiership success in three of the past four seasons.
The Tigers entered the last home-and-away round on each occasion needing to win the clinch the crucial double chance.
In 2017, they were fourth on the ladder with 14 wins, seven losses and a percentage of 116.7. But Port Adelaide and Sydney, who were fifth and sixth respectively, both had significantly superior percentages.
Port (with a percentage of 123.1) was playing 16th-placed Gold Coast in the final round, while the Swans (122.6) were taking on the 15th-placed Carlton.
Richmond’s Round 23 opponent was the 10th-placed St Kilda, with an 11-10 record for the season, and coming off a 49-point win the previous week against North Melbourne.
Sydney smashed the Blues by 81 points in a Saturday twilight fixture at the SCG, and that night the Power annihilated the Suns by 115 points at Adelaide Oval.
That meant the Tigers had to beat the Saints in their Sunday afternoon clash at the MCG to secure the double chance, which they duly did by 41 points.
And Greater Western Sydney’s loss to Geelong at GMHBA Stadium, saw Richmond jump to third position on the ladder, with the Giants slipping to fourth.
After winning the opening five games of the 2017 season, the Tigers then lost four on-the-trot, and had to win eight of their last 10 home-and-away matches to sew up a spot in the top four.
Two years later, Richmond had no margin for error after 13 games, sitting ninth on the ladder with seven wins, six losses, and an average of 92.0.
The Tigers subsequently embarked on an impressive winning streak – eight in-a-row leading into the last home-and-away round.
They were fourth on the ladder, but still not assured of the double chance, given Collingwood was only one game behind them with a much better percentage (112.5 to 117.8).
The Magpies accounted for seventh-placed Essendon by 11 points on the Friday night, which meant Richmond had to beat ladder leader Brisbane at the MCG Sunday afternoon to seal the double chance.
A 27-point win, and West Coast’s shock loss at home to Hawthorn, propelled the Tigers into third place going into the finals.
This year, Richmond was sixth after Round 11 in the abbreviated season, with six wins, one draw, four losses and a percentage of 116.6.
Five consecutive victories after that had the Tigers in third place going into their final home-and-away round clash with Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, just two points ahead of Geelong (fourth) and West Coast (fifth).
The Eagles scored a 15-point win against North Melbourne at Metricon Stadium on the Thursday night, but Richmond responded by beating the Crows by 44 points two days later to ensure it again had the double chance in the finals.
And the rest, as they say, is history . . . glorious Tigerland history.
It was quite a different story in 2018, however. That year, the Tigers sat on top of the league ladder from Round 13 onwards, won six successive games leading into the finals, finished the home-and-away season as minor premiers – two games and 15 percent ahead of their nearest rivals West Coast – only to be defeated by Collingwood in the preliminary final.
