AFL grand final: A Richmond flag would stamp them as a dynasty, says Terry Wallace

Ben Madden

AFL grand final: A Richmond flag would stamp them as a dynasty, says Terry Wallace image

This weekend's AFL grand final sees Richmond going for their second premiership in three years, a feat that not many clubs have been able to replicate.

History isn't on their side, though, as they aim to be just the third team in three decades to win a flag while on a eight-game or more winning streak.


Richmond have won 11 games coming into this week's grand final, and a win would see them join Carlton in 1995, and Brisbane in 2001 as the only teams to overcome this statistic.

MORE: AFL trade news: Adelaide defender Alex Keath requests trade to the Western Bulldogs

Former Richmond coach Terry Wallace thinks that if Richmond win this weekend's decider, they'll be amongst the AFL's greatest teams.

“We’ve only had two teams in 29 years who have won the flag with a winning streak of eight games or more,” Wallace said on SEN Afternoons.

“On these two occasions they were both 16; Carlton in 1995 – that side was a sensational side … and 2001 the start of the three-peat by Brisbane.

“Richmond are going in, and if they get their victory, it’s 12 in a row. I’m sensing that we might sit there at the end of the game and go: ‘They were just much too good for anyone in this competition as were Carlton of 1995 and Brisbane of 2001’.

“With 12 victories in a row … history says they have to be in that conversation … they would have won two of three as the great Geelong team did. I think they would be in that category.”

However, Wallace warned the Tigers, saying that long winning streaks have been the undoing of teams in the past. 

“It doesn’t guarantee anything because there have been sides that have been on that streak of wins that have got beaten – Geelong in 2008 was one of those,” he said.

Richmond have already made history this week, naming debutant Marlion Pickett in their grand final side.

It's the first time a player has made their debut in a grand final since 1952 and represents a meteoric rise for the mid-season draftee.

Ben Madden