1. Clarko was right to question the Hawks
It's a classic Alastair Clarkson tactic to downplay Hawthorn in the media, but he consistently stated this season that his team's best football was at least two years away. That status doesn't necessarily mean the Hawks can't still contend for their next piece of silverware, as Clarko would say. But Thursday night's evidence suggests Hawthorn isn't a serious challenger to Richmond's back-to-back flag tilt. Clarkson's men harassed the Tigers early – they laid 31 tackles by quarter-time – and their effort couldn't be questioned, but they had no answer once the whips started cracking in the third term. The lopsided inside-50 count told a sorry tale for the brown and gold.
Read: System, not tactics, says Clarko
2. Dusty is still the AFL's king
Plenty was made of Dustin Martin's (minor) statistical decline from his insane 2017 Brownlow Medal campaign and his numbers this year were too readily swept aside. But there was no better way for Martin to silence the critics than with a finals masterclass in his 200th match. He was already operating at a level above everyone else when he slotted a remarkable second quarter goal while deep in the pocket with his momentum taking him towards the boundary. Martin never offers much insight into the man behind the footballer, but his on-field performance should never be in doubt. He's a superstar in every sense of the word – and didn't he let Dan Howe know it.
3. Tigers could make these finals a fizzer
The opening week finals line-up had fans salivating about a potentially gripping September series, but Richmond is threatening to make it a non-event. The Tigers won their three finals last year by an average margin of 45 points – and none by fewer than six goals – and started the 2018 version in the same vein. They are already into a preliminary final and will meet one of West Coast, Collingwood, Sydney or Greater Western Sydney for a Grand Final spot in a fortnight's time.
4. There is always room for a hero to emerge
We expect the best players to perform on the biggest stages, but one of the most enjoyable aspects of finals is finding out which unheralded footballer will rise to the occasion. The likes of Jacob Townsend and Jack Graham were among the Tigers to do exactly that in last year's dream run. The unfashionable Kamdyn McIntosh, one of Richmond's best runners, was that man on Thursday night. With goals at a premium early, McIntosh had three of his own not even five minutes into the second half. The first was a simple set shot, but the other two were wonderfully executed dribbling efforts – the second after a slick gather at ground level.
5. You must take your opportunities
This is more of a reminder than a lesson. Shaun Burgoyne's costly and shock miss from inside 20m almost directly in front in the first quarter wasn't the last time Hawthorn was left regretful in front of the sticks. The club's resident deadeye dick, Luke Breust, marked down the other end a quarter later from similar range and also missed. That was when the Hawks were going their best and scoreboard pressure was paramount, but they failed to get reward for effort. The Tigers went on to rip the game from Hawthorn in a third-quarter blitz, so it may not have mattered, but it's hard not to wonder what might have been.
