I guess the Saints downfall had nothing to do with the fact that they were missing 2 of their KPP + multiple other key players + playing several players that were clearly underdone.
At any rate, the Sydney win was a freak occurence.
Even for all the good fortune they had, and allowing for the dearth of capable talls in the West Coast line-up, the Eagles would still have won had Hall not played.
It also need be noted that Sydney wouldn't have got past the Cats, if the Cats had of had a strong key forward or two.
From a Richmond perspective, do you not think that a lack of a strong CHB presence hurt the side this year? It was also noticeable how fragile the side was when Richo went down a couple of minutes into the game with Carlton. The Blues were enduring their worst losing streak in over a century, but beat you comfortably with the Bull off the paddock.