The notorious Melbourne weather was a mirror image of this high-stakes match where victory would have elevated the West Coast Eagles into second position.

With Brisbane scoring a nail-biting win the previous day against Geelong, the Eagles had the opportunity to vault over the top of the Cats into second spot.

They woke on the day of this encounter at the MCG to bright sunshine, but well aware that the fickle weather in the southern State would turn at some point in the day. If they hadn’t checked the bureau of meteorology website, then a text message from Virgin Airlines forecasting strong winds that could affect their return flight certainly raised their awareness.

The game began beneath a sunny, cloudless sky and the Eagles’ start matched the conditions.

They were pristine in every sense – their ball movement slick, their skill execution delightful and their finish virtually flawless, as they rattled on 7.1 in the opening term.

But just as they knew the weather would turn, they were equally confident Richmond would respond. And so they did.

Indeed, Richmond began to chip away at the Eagles’ four-goal advantage at quarter time when conditions were at their best. The Tigers started to get the game played on their terms, creating repeat inside 50 entries and closing the margin to 10 points at the main break.

They had not received just reward for their dominance in that period, with great credit going to the Eagles defence that held up to the constant onslaught.

To complicate matters, the Eagles were without midfielder Mark Hutchings who had strained a hamstring in the opening term. Optimistically, as his teammates set themselves for the second half, he turned his legs over on an exercise bike but played no further part in the game.

Compounding that situation further, key forward Jack Darling, who made a dynamic start to the game, was playing under duress. After kicking his team’s first two goals to ignite the booming start, Darling flew into the face of an oncoming pack and received a corked glute that restricted his movement thereafter.

Darling played out the game, but was not the influence that he could have been.

While the Eagles were sorting out their second half plan in the MCG changerooms, the weather was also doing its thing. It started with light drizzle, evolved into heavy rain and wind squalls, and made the game a little more basic.

Richmond might have been better suited by the greasy conditions, but the Eagles did not yield.

They were still clinging to a three-point advantage at the last change and remained brave. The Tigers kicked out to a 13-point lead in the middle of the final term before the Eagles fought back and drew level with four minutes to play.

Unfortunately, they could not muster the next score, Richmond found a way, and Jack Riewoldt kicked the winning goal with about a minute to play.

The Eagles were again well served by midfielders Elliot Yeo, Andrew Gaff and Luke Shuey, while Jamie Cripps kicked three goals and defenders Shannon Hurn and Brad Sheppard were resilient and resourceful when under siege.

While clearly disappointed with the result, the external ‘experts’ labelled this the game of the season.

Round 22, 2019
MCG

Richmond                        3.1          6.5          8.8         13.10       88
West Coast Eagles            7.1          8.2          9.3          13.4        82

Goals
Richmond: Lynch 3; Riewoldt 2; Martin, Soldo, Caddy, Castagna, Short, Lambert, Bolton, Edwards
West Coast Eagles: Cripps 3; Rioli, Darling 2; Kennedy, Petruccelle, Waterman, Ryan, Allen, Hickey