7. Richmond (8-6, 95.3%)Remaining games: Gold Coast Suns at MS, GWS Giants at MCG, Port Adelaide at MCG, Collingwood at MCG, Melbourne at MCG, Carlton at MCG, West Coast Eagles at MCG, Brisbane Lions at MCG
Remaining fixture difficulty: 11th-hardest (opponents’ average percentage 99.42, four top eight opponents, one out of home state)
Percentage of teams making top 8 from current record (1994-2016): 62.5%
The Tigers were arguably the biggest beneficiaries of Fremantle and Port Adelaide’s losses this weekend. They’re likely going to finish below those teams in percentage no matter what, so they need to win more games than them to finish above them. And here they are with an extra win in the column over them both, as well as the 7-7 Bombers. With next Saturday’s road trip to the Gold Coast being Richmond’s final interstate game of the season (jeez that’s crazy), and after soaring past the Saints despite their returning stars not being quite up to par, we’re confident this team will be playing finals. The best realistic case for this team is probably getting to 12 wins after the Melbourne game; but if they’re only at 10 at that point, it’s going to be a squeaker of a finish.
Fox Footy’s projection: 12.75 wins, finishing seventh
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/latest-afl-run-home-predicted-finals-series-and-final-ladder-round-15-2019/news-story/72f8f6e28441806c1f65b27f554c9788Current Ladder: