1. Richmond aren’t unbeatable at the G. We tipped this one to be closer than most had but who saw the Pies domination coming? The Tigers will be back though. Especially since Lynch is en route.
“We’ll live, we’ll learn, we’ll come back bigger and better next year."https://t.co/nlw0S1qymo
— Richmond FC 🐯 (@Richmond_FC) September 23, 2018
2. Mason Cox has arrived. The giant American was unstoppable on Friday night with three goals and eleven marks. Eight of those marks were contested, the second most ever in an AFL final.
Mason Cox with the speccie and the strut!#AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/7O3LTeNJIl
— AFL (@AFL) September 21, 2018
3. Jordan De Goey might be the best from the 2014 draft. Making headlines for all the right reasons now. Gave five times AA defender, Alex Rance, an absolute bath.
4. Steele Sidebottom has the Gary Ayres Award for best player of the finals wrapped up. Truly brilliant again with 41 disposals.
Steele Sidebottom is some sort of player.#AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/ml3BK5T2CS
— AFL (@AFL) September 21, 2018
5. We don’t know who the “pressure kings” are anymore. It was supposed to be Richmond but they were outdone by Collingwood. West Coast arguably did it even better. Completely frazzled Melbourne.
6. A lack of finals experience did hurt Melbourne in the end. They did really well to win on the road this year but beating the Eagles in a final against a fiercely parochial crowd was not something the Dees were prepared for. They fumbled, missed handballs and were generally worried off the ball.
A gut-wrenching loss.
Our season comes to an end as West Coast get the victory at Optus Stadium.#RaiseHell #AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/FbjBG1luup
— Melbourne Demons (@melbournefc) September 22, 2018
7. Like the Tigers the Dees will be back and probably be even better. Easy to forget they were missing Jake Lever and Jesse Hogan. Replace Frost with Lever and let Weideman play second fiddle to Hulk Hogan and it’s hard to spot an obvious weakness in the Melbourne best 22.
8. Jack Darling is out for revenge. Darling was humiliated the last time the Eagles made the Grand Final. He played with brutality and focus on Saturday and will no doubt want to carry that energy into next week.
Jack Darling extracting some large turn out of the Optus Stadium deck! #AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/c9RRhlgR8J
— AFL (@AFL) September 22, 2018