Round 22, 1998
Melbourne vs Richmond
Sunday 30 August
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 76,387
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 5.5 | 6.10 | 12.14 | 19.19.133 |
| Richmond | 1.2 | 4.3 | 6.9 | 8.9.57 |
Melbourne win by 76 points
Goalkickers: Jeff Farmer 5, David Neitz 5, Matthew Febey 2, Adem Yze 2, Andrew Leoncelli 1, Garry Lyon 1, Anthony McDonald 1, Russell Robertson 1, Stephen Tingay 1
Brownlow Votes:
3 - Anthony Ingerson
2 - Jeff Farmer
1 - Jeff White
Best and Fairest
39 - Anthony Ingerson
36 - Adem Yze
34 - Jeff Farmer
29 - David Neitz
20 - Shane Woewodin
Milestones:
150 games
Stephen Tingay
Melbourne had already qualified for finals courtesy of their Monday night win over Sydney, and could drop no lower than seventh if beaten, but a big crowd turned up to see if Richmond could join them with a win, or at least a narrow loss. A first quarter blast, including Jeff Farmer taking a last-minute Mark of the Year contender, ended the Tigers' chances early. Garry Lyon had the first goal in 30 seconds, then Jeff Farmer got another directly from the next centre bounce, before Farmer pulled down his screamer, and quarter time the margin was 27 points.
Despite the late withdrawal of David Schwarz with hamstring trouble, Farmer and David Neitz ran riot, and Melbourne made sure of their unexpected fourth place finish. Richmond still had a chance to move ahead of Essendon if they'd narrowed the margin enough, but with skipper Matthew Knights blanketed by Shane Woewodin they fell apart, conceding 14 goals to four in the second half. Richmond had blown their chance, but Melbourne booked a Qualifying Final date with Adelaide at the ((MCG).
Daniher said "We've got to fourth, and a new season starts now. Our fellows don't think the journey's come to an end. We're just starting again, and they're pretty hungry." He said his team wasn't "just happy to make the eight. We want to go on".
Best were Anthony Ingerson, David Neitz and Jeff Farmer. bDarren Kowal suffered a heavy knock. James McDonald replaced David Schwarz in the selected side.
Video
Reserves
Melbourne 15.14.104 d. Richmond 14.15.99
Best - Nettelbeck, Beams, Johnstone
Goals - Nettelbeck 5, Beams 3, Longmuir 2, Brown 1, Lamaro 1, Smith 1, Ottens 1, Johnstone 1
Media
Age - 31/08/1998
Football Record - 1998 Finals