Richmond coach Terry Wallace says Sunday's 80-point mauling of bottom side Melbourne shows just how far his side has progressed in season 2008.
While the Tigers may have finished ninth for the sixth time in 15 seasons - despite scoring their biggest victory in just over two years on Sunday - Wallace reminded those critics of the club's progress that this time last year it was the Tigers who had just claimed the wooden spoon.
"We have had the wrath of what Melbourne is going through at the moment and we have come out the other side," he said of his side's rise from wooden spooners to best team outside of the finals this season.
"And what I am pleased about for our supporter base is that now they can see the gulf between us and where the 16th placed team is now."
"So we have come a fair way but we have got a long way to go."
Wallace - who is in the fifth and final year of his contract next year - knows he will be under pressure to deliver a long-awaited finals appearance to Punt Road next year but has no doubt the current Richmond line-up is better than the other Tiger teams that have just missed the finals in recent years.
"We will take ninth - that is where we are at but this time it's a strong ninth," he said, after watching his team score its biggest victory since round 19, 2006.
"A few of the times (the club has finished ninth previously) we have had a reasonable start to the year and then fallen away but done that with a more senior side than what we fielded in the latter half of this year."
"So we are in the same position (as previous years such as when the club also finished ninth in 2006 under Wallace) but we have replaced senior blokes 28-30 years of age with younger players who are aged 18-20."
Wallace also pointed out that the Tigers won eight of their last 11 games in the second half of the season - a feat only bettered by minor premier and flag favourites Geelong.
"We are ready to be able to put in some form of challenge next year," Wallace said.
Boosting his confidence is that apart from Greg Tivendale - who played his last game for the club on Sunday - the Tigers' experienced players such as Matthew Richardson, Joel Bowden, Nathan Brown and Troy Simmonds will all play on next year while his club's crop of promising youngsters get another year's experience under their belt.
"They (his senior players) all finished the season strongly and we are hoping to keep the group together for a couple of years and we hope that for those senior players they get the opportunity to enjoy some success in the latter part of their careers."