1. It won’t go down in folklore like the passage that led to the Dom Sheed match-winner in the 2018 Grand Final, but the chain of possession that culminated in the last goal in this one was impressive too. After Jason Castagna kicked a long speculator to the top of the square, that was cut off by veteran Shannon Hurn the ball was swept forward with precision. Hurn, to Tom Barrass in the pocket, to Harry Edwards at half-back. Then Edwards in-board to Elliot Yeo, who kicked long to Liam Ryan in a one-one-on-one. Ryan’s clean pick-up and kick to Josh Kennedy who gathered centimetres above the turf was precise. And then Kennedy, around the body from about 35 metres put the Eagles in front with 36 seconds on the clock.

2. Midfield bull Elliot Yeo has provided a reminder in the last three weeks of what the Eagles have missed in the last 12 months. Gradually his impact and game time have increased since his return and he was pivotal in the last quarter. A competitive beast, Yeo won a number of centre clearances and pumped the ball inside 50, putting the Richmond defence under pressure. An indication of Yeo’s penchant for the contest was that 15 of his 20 possessions were contested, eight of them were pumped inside the forward 50 arc and he racked up seven clearances.

3. Richmond gun forward Jack Riewoldt started the game brightly, kicking two first-quarter goals, one of them a clever kick off the ground from the top of the square. He looked threatening, but Eagles key defender Tom Barrass ruled that match-up for the remainder of the night. Barrass took eight marks, five of them intercepts. In conjunction with Shannon Hurn, who took six intercept marks in his 10 grabs for the night, they were responsible for curtailing countless Richmond attacking moves.

4. In the absence of skipper Luke Shuey, until recently Elliot Yeo, and also Tim Kelly much of the burden in the midfield has fallen to Jack Redden and Dom Sheed. And they have shouldered the responsibility brilliantly. Both would be high in Club Champion reckoning at the mid-point in the season and were doing their thing at the coalface once more against the Tigers. Redden had 32 possessions, 12 of them contested, and four times he penetrated the forward 50 arc. Sheed had 25 disposals, 11 of them contested and with Redden shared the team benchmark of nine ground ball gets.

5. While the club’s injury concerns have been prominent all season, the upside has been opportunities created for some of the young players. And they haven’t disappointed. Midfielder Luke Edwards appears to be a natural footballer – hardly a surprise given his pedigree, as the son of Adelaide 300-game great Tyson Edwards. Luke shows poise and a high football IQ beyond his two games and looks at home in the heat of the AFL environment. Defenders Harry Edwards and Luke Foley have also slotted neatly in defence, covering for Liam Duggan, Jeremy McGovern and/or Brad Sheppard and Alex Witherden. They held up under the ferocity of the Tiger assault, whose manic football tests the best of the competition’s defences.