Australian Football

Match Report

If Charles Dickens were writing the match report of Friday night's Preliminary Final between Richmond and Geelong, he might have given it the title A Tale of Two Toms, because that's very much what this game, which saw the Tigers advance to the Grand Final, was.

Sitting in the grandstand was one Tom — Geelong's Hawkins — looking on the MCG field where he should have, and would have been, had he not had a 'brain fade' in the Cats Semi-Final win over West Coast. Hawkins had been a key part of that win but a silly act which saw him round-arm the Eagles' Will Schofield resulted in a one-match suspension.

Out on the field was another Tom — Richmond's Lynch — playing in his first Preliminary Final, having joined the Tigers this season after eight seasons with Gold Coast. As Hawkins looked on, Lynch took the match by the scruff of the neck, not once, but three times. He led an early Richmond charge, kicking two in two minutes as the Tigers gained the early ascendancy.

And then, when the Tigers had lost control of the match by half time, Lynch sparked them back into action with a major in the first minute of the third term, and added another after Dustin Martin and Jason Castagna had booted majors of their own. Lynch's second of the quarter — his fourth of the match — restored a lead to Richmond after the Tigers had gone into the long break 21 points down and looking spent.

Lynch's third act came in the final quarter after Geelong's Tim Kelly had goaled to bring the Cats back with five points. With the match threatening to swing back in Geelong's favour, Lynch marked a long pass from ex-Suns teammate Josh Caddy, and his fifth goal gave Richmond an 11-point lead. When another ex-Sun, Dion Prestia, kicked another major 10 minutes later, the Tigers had the game in the bag.

And all of Tom Lynch's heroics came as Tom Hawkins looked on, knowing that had he been at the other end playing the Lynch role for Geelong, the Cats might have made their way through to the Grand Final rather than Richmond. Hawkins was a finals veteran, and he had been a key to past Geelong finals successes many times before.

Lynch will be left to ponder what might have been in the weeks, months and years to come, especially if the Tigers go on to claim the 2019 premiership.

That is not to say that Richmond did not have other key contributors. Bachar Houli was rock-solid in defence all evening and Prestia played a huge part in the Tigers' second-half revival. He also played a part in more than one of Lynch's five goals. Dustin Martin was another whose contribution was valuable. He collected 22 possessions and kicked two goals.

For much of the first half, though, it looked very much like Richmond's season would end the same way as it had a year earlier — in a defeat against a rank underdog. Geelong opened the match strongly with a snapped goal to Gary Ablett at the five-minute mark, and although Richmond responded with a burst of three goals in four minutes, the Tigers were to go missing for much of the rest of the first half.

Having weathered the initial Richmond onslaught Geelong took control of the second half of the first term, the ball living in the Cats' forward line for much of the time. A snapped goal to Tim Kelly was followed by a brace of majors to first-year player Gryan Miers, the second of those giving the Cats a six-point lead, which they took into the first break.

Miers was involved again as soon as the second term began, feeding a handball out to give Kelly his second major. The Cats dominated the next 10 minutes but couldn't capitalise as Mark Blicavs, Joel Sewood and Zac Tuohy all registered behinds. Geelong's lead of 15 points at that stage should have been greater. A goal to Quinton Narkle extended that to 19 but Jason Castagna pulled one back for the Tigers with their only goal of the quarter before a doubtful free kick and a 50-metre penalty to Patrick Dangerfield gifted the Cats a goal on the half-time siren, giving them a 21-point lead.

Many thought the Tigers were gone at that point, but with Lynch's early third-quarter goal igniting them, they ground their way to a three-quarter timer lead before pulling away in the final term to earn redemption for 2018's Preliminary Final loss. Geelong had their fair share of the ball in that final term but were missing a focal point up forward. And the Cats' perfect focal point was sitting in the grandstand, watching on, helpless to do anything.

In our Tale of Two Toms, there could be a happy ending for only one, and it was for Tom Lynch, who will play in his first Grand Final next Saturday in his ninth AFL season, as Richmond look to claim a second flag in three years.

GOALS
Richmond: Lynch 5; Martin, Castagna, Prestia 2; Lambert
Geelong: Kelly 3; Miers 2; Ablett, Narkle, Dangerfield, Henderson

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Richmond: Lynch, Houli, Prestia Martin, Edwards, Cotchin, Ellis
Geelong: Kelly, Selwood, Dangerfield, O'Connor, Stanley, Miers, Tuohy

BEST - THE SATURDAY AGE
Richmond: Houli, Lynch, Prestia, Martin, Castagna, Edwards, Ellis
Geelong: Selwood, Kelly, Miers, O’Connor, Dangerfield

INJURIES
Richmond: Graham (shoulder), Broad (concussion)
Geelong: Nil

UMPIRES: Nicholls, Chamberlain, Ryan

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Bruce McAvaney, Brian Taylor, Cameron Ling, Matthew Richardson, Daisy Pearce