Richmond and Collingwood Played the VFL’s First Qualifying Final in 1972. How Can a Final Be a Final When Neither Team Can Be Eliminated?
Richmond beat Collingwood by 44 points before 91,900 people at the MCG in September 1972. The Tigers kicked 25 goals and Royce Hart kicked six.
It was also the first qualifying final in VFL history — and neither Richmond nor Collingwood could be eliminated by losing it. Both clubs were guaranteed another game before the opening bounce.
So what was Richmond actually playing for? If elimination was not the stake, what advantage was being decided, and how had the new Final Five changed the meaning of winning a September final?
The question Tiger supporters should be asking is simple: how can a final be a final when nobody can be knocked out?
Because that is exactly what the full feature examines.
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