Preliminary Final week delivered again, with courageous efforts from injured players Jack Graham and Phil Davis, while underrated Giant Zac Williams excelled in a midfield role. Unfortunately, however, the weekend was marred by score review technology.
Here are this week's Heroes & Villains.
HEROES
Tom Lynch: Regardless of your position on player movement, free agency and players -- and indeed, captains -- leaving teams, you really can't begrudge Tom Lynch for getting out of Gold Coast.
He was born to play in Melbourne at a big club. He's born to perform in prelims, and now he has the chance to take the 2019 Grand Final by the scruff of its neck.
Richmond's number one man was the match-winner on Friday night, bobbing up when the Tigers needed him most with excellent contested marking and accurate kicks in front of goal.
On arguably the biggest night on the footy calendar, and in front of 94,423 (mostly) Richmond fans, the biggest signing of the 2017 offseason was electric, kicking 5.1 and clunking five marks inside 50.
Crucially, his contributions came consistently throughout the evening; he kicked two early when the Tigers jumped out to an early lead, the first after the half time break to bring the margin back to 14 points, the goal to put the Tigers in front in the third and then another to put the Tigers up by 11 points in the last.
From what we saw of Lynch on Friday night, he'll be a pig in mud next Saturday.
Jack Graham: It's almost hard to put into words just how courageous, brave and very possibly downright silly Jack Graham's second half performance was on Friday night.
Late in the first quarter of Richmond's stunning victory, Graham struggled off the ground with a dislocated shoulder. He spent much of the next term down in the rooms before he miraculously reappeared on the bench and, later, back on the ground.
His contributions were vital; he might only have had five touches after coming back on, but also laid five tackles and allowed the Tigers to keep rotating players on and off the bench.
"I spoke to [Graham] on the phone and asked him whether he could go and he said 'yep, I can do it'," Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said post-match.
"Where it ends up with Jack, we're not too sure, but what I know is it will be a chapter in our history that has a massive positive thing for Jack Graham, because that effort was simply incredible."
Watching this back again, it's astounding that Jack Graham came back on and played the way he did. #AFLTigersCats #AFL #gotiges pic.twitter.com/cgjcZxJzrf
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshMedia) September 21, 2019
Teammate Liam Baker was equally as glowing about Graham's efforts, labelling the big-bodied midfielder "one of the toughest blokes" on Richmond's list.
"He tackles, puts his body on the line, he chases, and his shoulder... it looked done ... the way he fought out the game with that takes a lot of strength and a lot of mental strength as well," Baker told ESPN after the match.
But despite Graham's heroics, he may not suit up for the Tigers in next week's Grand Final; reports are that his shoulder popped a further three times in the changerooms after the match, and he was sent for scans on Saturday.
It would be an incredible shame if Graham were to miss the Grand Final and -- if the Tigers were to win -- miss out on a well-deserved premiership medallion.
Zac Williams: Don't be fooled, Zac Williams is no half back flanker.
In a match where many wondered who would fill the void left by Stephen Coniglio, Callan Ward, Lachie Whitfield and Toby Greene, it was Williams who treated the wet and slippery conditions with contempt.
Where all others slipped and fell, Williams kept his feet, his head and his cool. To three-quarter time he had amassed 22 disposals and a crucial goal amongst the Giants' run of five unanswered in the third term.
We mentioned Williams' efforts in last week's columns. Against the Lions, he was a general in defence, taking intercept marks and rebounding with aplomb. This week, with a different role, his influence was just as great.
The unfortunate irony is Williams could even join the throng of sidelined superstars as he received attention for a knock to the leg early in the fourth quarter. Despite that, his monster three quarter effort to lift the Giants into their winning position was enough for him to lock up his spot as a hero.
VILLAINS
Lachie Henderson: This villain slot could also easily go to Tom Hawkins, whose moment of madness last week led to Lachie Henderson unfortunately having a preliminary final performance he'd rather forget.
Henderson was brought into the side in Hawkins' absence and some wondered if it would be to play down back; a move which would allow Harry Taylor to float forward as he has done successfully more than a handful of times in the past.
But instead, Chris Scott put it on Henderson -- who had played just five games in 2019 -- to be a focal point up forward, and unfortunately for Henderson his impact was just about minimal.
Aside from kicking one goal just on three-quarter time to cut the margin back to four points, the former Blue was unsighted, amassing just five disposals on the night - more than only Tiger Nathan Broad who left the field with a nasty concussion.
Tellingly, with time expiring and the Cats three goals down, Henderson floated across a pack to try and take a mark that didn't need to be taken; Sam Menegola had the journey and Mark Blicavs was shepherding on the line.
Talk about a costly mistake, Tomahawk.
The ARC: It was proudly trumpeted as the solution to the AFL's shambolic goal review system, but the AFL's million-dollar ARC review centre botched a clear chance to overturn a Collingwood goal into a behind.
In the last quarter of the Giants' prelim win on Saturday, and with the Pies kickstarting their comeback, Josh Thomas snapped hurriedly from a pack to cut the margin to under four goals.
But before the ball was bounced in the middle, the broadcast cameras clearly showed that not one, but two GWS defenders got fingertips to the footy.
Touched?
— 7AFL (@7AFL) September 21, 2019
It was ruled ALL CLEAR 😳#AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/F1R9xyHLz1
According to the AFL, all scores are reviewed, making the catastrophic error even more bewildering. After all, the ARC was brought in to eliminate things such as 'a howler in a prelim'.
It caps off a torrid year for all forms of score review and almost cost the Giants dearly. One could say that had that goal been rightfully overturned, Collingwood would not have regained the momentum in the fashion it did and the match might not have been so close.
Had the Pies managed to scrape a late win, social media, talkback radio and ESPN's own Footytips podcast would understandably have gone into meltdown.
The Pies' third term: In some circles, the third term is known as the premiership quarter, and it's only fitting the Pies couldn't get the job done after their shocking showing in the third quarter of Saturday's prelim against the Giants.
The Pies went into the half time break three points up on the Giants but emerged from the rooms a different team. GWS jumped them early, with quick goals to Brent Daniels and Zac Williams gifting the Giants both the lead and some serious momentum.
By three-quarter time the Magpies were -13 in clearances - their worst differential in that stat to three-quarter time in more than six years. Overall, they managed just two behinds for the quarter while the Giants piled on five goals and two behinds to open up a 27-point lead at the last break.
On a wet day in a pressure-cooker environment, giving up a five-goal lead isn't going to cut it, and while Collingwood came agonisingly close to snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, it was their deplorable effort in the third which ultimately let them down.