What Would a Top-10 Finals System Really Change for Richmond?
Updated: 4 days ago
The AFL’s wildcard finals are no longer a one-season curiosity. The top-10 system is staying for 2027, which means Richmond can now plan around a September door that did not exist through most of the club’s rebuild.
That sounds like good news for a side trying to climb from the bottom. But an extra finals place can distort the standard just as easily as it can sharpen it. Finishing close to 10th is not the same thing as becoming a side capable of surviving September.
For Richmond, the more useful tension is the distance between access and readiness. A lower qualification line may make the ladder feel closer without changing the football required to become genuinely dangerous.
So does a permanent top-10 system meaningfully change Richmond’s rebuild benchmark — or simply give supporters a new line on the ladder to mistake for progress?
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