With the game in the balance and Richmond again not making the most of their opportunities, Damien Hardwick conceded that for the third week in a row, he turned his mind to the Tigers losing the seemingly unlosable.
"I must admit it is one of those things that goes through your head," the relieved coach said after his side this time closed the deal, defeating Essendon by 15 points on Saturday night to end a streak of three losses by a combined 10 points.
"I'm throwing water bottles and smashing phones at one stage and 'Balmey' [football manager Neil Balme] is rubbing my back there trying to calm me down. [But] I was pretty confident our boys were playing pretty good footy and the luck of the gods might have been with us at some stage."
Despite having nearly 30 more inside 50s than their opponent, Richmond only made the game safe when Toby Nankervis goaled with less than two minutes left on the clock. And Hardwick said it was a result that would do wonders for his team's belief.
"It's important for their general confidence in what we are doing, because a lot of things we have been doing we have been doing really well, but just haven't quite got the outcome we desire," he said. "I thought tonight was good reward for our players but also our fans who have been through a tough stint as well.
"We try to look at the positives and 80 per cent of our footy has been fantastic this year. There's some areas we can certainly improve, and unfortunately we've lost those close games and that's all anyone speaks about, but we know our best is good enough."
Two last-quarter goals to the Tigers without reply also spared what might have been a major controversy after Richmond's Jayden Short was penalised for a deliberate rushed behind on the stroke of half-time.
Short was five metres ahead of Essendon's Josh Green, chasing a ball into Richmond's defensive goalsquare, when he rushed the ball through the goals. Umpire Curtis Deboy ruled that the Tiger was under no physical pressure, gifting Green a shot from the goalsquare.
Hardwick said he believed the decision was incorrect. "I think they made a mistake, end of story. It's tough, you've got 85,000 people yelling one way or another. I guarantee you I would rather be playing than umpiring. They do a pretty good job," he said.
"I am probably not there to judge, I'll let them clarify that. As long as they have got a fair understanding of what the rule is there, that will be fine."
Essendon coach John Worsfold said he thought the decision was consistent with the direction the AFL had given before the season.
"The rule was if you rush it from outside the goalsquare, it's a free kick, if you rush it from inside the goalsquare, you have to be under physical pressure, which means a hand on you I'd assume, not perceived pressure," Worsfold said.
The ruling also indirectly had consequences for the Bombers in the third quarter when Andrew McGrath kept alive a ball he might have rushed for a behind, pressure eventually allowing Richmond's Dustin Martin to kick an important goal. "We'll clarify it with our players exactly what the rule is," Worsfold said.
The Essendon coach said too many errors with ball in hand had cost his team dearly.
"Basically, it was the same pattern we've seen a fair bit this year. We conceded too many inside 50s through our turnovers," he said. "The number of turnovers tonight was more than even in our poorer games this year, and that's costly."
