AFL Hall of Famer Terry Wallace said he had a feeling Collingwood could upset Richmond before the game.
Friday night’s Preliminary Final presented Richmond their first predicament of being outright favourites in a final – without the safety net of a double chance – in a very, very long time.
Wallace said he felt it was up to Collingwood to exploit that, and they most certainly did.
“I had a friend in the crowd and I said your one chance is to jump a side that’s only played one game in 26 days and spook them because the dynamic of the Richmond Football Club has never been the hot favourite in a final and been put under pressure and known what that was like to deal with,” Wallace told the AFL Nation pregame show.
“I thought the only way that Collingwood had a chance was to see what would happen if they were put under that pressure and they didn’t handle the moment at all.
“That’s taking zero away from Collingwood who took it right up to them and put them under so much pressure, but I’ve never seen the Richmond side make so many mistakes, fumble the ball so much and just did not handle the moment.
“They didn’t handle the physical pressure that Collingwood put on them, but I don’t think they handled the moment of that dynamic either.”