No team is immortal
So many people had already penciled in Richmond for the 2018 Premiership but it was not to be. Collingwood were absolutely outstanding on Friday night and I don’t know if the Tigers were complacent, they weren’t hungry enough or if it had something to do with playing one game in three weeks, but Collingwood blew them out of the water and nobody saw it coming. Not even their supporters. The Tiger dynasty was short-lived but it was still impressive. Do they have what it takes to get back up to the pinnacle next season? Only time will tell.
Collingwood are definitely the real deal
I think we can safely say that Collingwood are the real deal now and they have peaked at the right time. Everything seems to have clicked and what they’re doing this finals series is exactly like Richmond last year and the Bulldogs the year before. Imagine saying to someone at the end of last year that 12 months later Collingwood would be going into the Grand Final as favourites. Nathan Buckley has got to be the coach of the year.
Dustin Martin should not have played on Saturday night
Richmond said Dusty was carrying nothing more than a corky going into the game on Friday night but that must have been some hell of a corky because he was horrendous. It’s hard to say whether or not another player coming in for him would have had more of an impact, but I don’t think they could have had any less of an impact on the game than Dusty did.
The Demons didn’t make the trip to Perth
Don’t be disheartened Demon fans, they played an unreal finals series, but they just didn’t get up for the game in Perth. The players they needed to stand up, Jordan Lewis in particular, went missing. It happens, and they will no doubt learn from the experience and come back bigger and better next year and have a good crack at the flag.
The age-old Grand Final venue debate will be the talking point of the week
Almost since the second the siren went at Optus Stadium on Saturday, Eagles fans were complaining about having to play at the MCG next week despite West Coast finishing higher on the ladder than Collingwood. It happens every time an interstate team who finishes highest on the ladder makes the Grand Final but could you ever imagine it played anywhere else but the MCG? It would just be wrong.