St Kilda has given veteran pair Fraser Gehrig and Andrew Thompson a winning send-off, coming from behind late in the match to defeat Richmond by 10 points on Saturday at the MCG in a controversial result that's bound to be discussed and scrutinised in some depth.
The Tigers led by eight points with nine minutes left on the clock knowing that victory would not only cost the club a priority pick in the NAB AFL Draft, but would also mean giving up the first selection in the pre-season draft.
It was this very position that senior coach Terry Wallace, in a pre-match radio interview, had described as an impossible situation that he wanted desperately to avoid.
He accused the AFL taking a 'Happy Days' approach to the predicament not only of the Tigers but Carlton and Melbourne who face the same dilemma when they play on Sunday and called on 'Fonzie' Demetriou to take action.
The Saints, however, finished with the final three goals including one to Gehrig after the siren, his fifth for the match, to win 14.18 (102) to 13.14 (92).
St Kilda's late rally defied a clear trend over the second half of the season. The final quarter was the first the Saints had won since round 13.
The Saints led by 16 points at the first change on the strength of Justin Koschitzke's three first-term goals and opened up a 25-point break entering time-on in the second quarter when the Tigers rallied with four goals straight to cut the margin to one point at half-time.
A feisty Kayne Pettifer started the run with a long set shot from the boundary for the second of his three majors for the term and completed it with a goal from a strong grab deep in the pocket.
Incredibly the pattern was repeated in the third quarter when the Saints opened with the first four goals only to concede the next four and a two-point deficit at the final change.
Robbed of their chance to qualify for the finals by Adelaide's win on Friday night, the Saints looked like a side that had little to play for but managed to get over the top of the Tigers in the crucial closing minutes.
Gehrig announced immediately after the match that he had played his last game of AFL football, though veteran team-mate Robert Harvey said he was weighing-up whether he would continue into 2008.
RICHMOND: 2.2, 8.5, 12.12, 13.14 (92)
ST KILDA: 4.8, 7.12, 11.15, 14.18 (102)
GOALS: Richmond: Pettifer 4, Deledio 2, Richardson 2, Brown, Tuck, Tambling, Edwards, Newman
St Kilda: Gehrig 5, Koschitzke 4, Riewoldt 3, Milne, Montagna
BEST: Richmond: Pettifer, Newman, Bowden, Brown, Pattison, Deledio
St Kilda: Koschitzke, Riewoldt, Dal Santo, Montagna
INJURIES: Richmond: Nil
St Kilda: Nil
REPORTS: Daniel Jackson (Richmond) by umpire Goldspink for rough conduct on Leigh Montagna (St Kilda) in the second quarter
CHANGES: Luke Ball (corked thigh) replaced in the St Kilda selected side by Andrew Thompson
UMPIRES: Kennedy, Allen, Goldspink
CROWD: 42,572 at the MCG