With the dust still settling on Richmond's 41-point win over St Kilda, coach Damien Hardwick's focus quickly turned to the AFL finals campaign.
The Tigers secured third spot and sent AFL great Nick Riewoldt into retirement with a 19.8 (122) to 12.9 (81) win at the MCG on Sunday.
Hardwick's men were fourth going into round 23 and they climbed to third with their 15th win of the season to set up a qualifying final against Geelong.
"We've had some pretty good discussions about if we did make the top four what that would look like," Hardwick said.
"We'll put those plans in place now.
"We've got really good belief in our players ... we've got a pretty good opportunity here."
Richmond will feature in their fourth finals campaign in the past five years.
A horror 2016 season - when they finished 13th - followed three elimination finals defeats in a row, but Hardwick is adamant the Tigers of 2017 are made of sterner stuff.
"They've become really process-driven and systematic in the way that they play ... I'm really proud," the coach said.
"The Saints were possibly playing for a finals spot and had a champion of the game retiring as well so it was always going to be a tough ask.
"I thought the boys handled themselves really well."
Red-hot Brownlow Medal favourite Dustin Martin put in another stunning performance, his 36 possessions and two goals a highlight.
Trent Cotchin was also important with 26 disposals and a goal, while Jacob Townsend booted five goals.
Riewoldt had 15 touches and kicked a goal in his 336th and final AFL appearance.
He was warmly applauded by the 69,104 fans as he was chaired off by teammate Josh Bruce and cousin Jack Riewoldt.
Richmond led by 18 points at the first change then surged to a 50-point lead in the second term.
But the Saints fought back with four goals to one in the third quarter and would have been closer than 25 points down heading into the last quarter with better conversion in front of goal.
Martin then steadied the ship for the Tigers with the first goal of the final term.
Jade Gresham was outstanding for St Kilda with five goals, while Luke Dunstan (30 possessions) was also prominent.
St Kilda's cause wasn't helped when they lost Jarryn Geary to a concussion in the first quarter.
The result means the Saints finish 11th with an 11-11 record and miss the finals for the sixth year in a row.
Alan Richardson's side handed the Tigers a 67-point belting in round 16 but managed just two more wins in a disappointing end to the season.
"We went in with plans not dissimilar to last time ... we just weren't able to execute," Richardson said.
"So we're disappointed but they were at a different level to the team that we played last time.
"They were just way too good for us."
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