Richmond smash Brisbane to reach prelim final, GWS Giants knock Western Bulldogs out of AFL finals

Richmond looms as the team to beat this September after dismantling Brisbane on its own patch, sealing a home prelim and sending the Lions into a semi-final against GWS, who earlier knocked out the Bulldogs.

See how all the day's finals action played out.

Tigers make September statement by thumping Lions

The freakish talent of Dustin Martin has led Richmond to a 47-point win over Brisbane and its third AFL preliminary final in as many seasons.

Playing in front of a 37,478 crowd — the biggest attendance at the Gabba for an AFL match — Martin booted an equal career-best six goals on Saturday night in a dominant display as the Tigers stormed to an 18.4 (112) to 8.17 (65) win.

Martin's haul is the highest by a Tiger in a final since the 1980 decider when Kevin Bartlett kicked seven and David Cloke booted six against Collingwood.

Lions defender Marcus Adams will probably wake up in cold sweats after the 2017 Brownlow medallist made mincemeat of him in several contests, picking up 14 disposals along with his goals as the Lions had little answer to his strength and presence.

He wasn't alone, however, with Shane Edwards a strong contender for best on ground with 29 disposals and a goal, as he and Dion Prestia (32 disposals) allowed Martin to roam forward and wreck havoc.

Tom Lynch kicked two majors in his first finals appearance, while Dylan Grimes once more shut down Lions goalsneak Charlie Cameron.

Daniel Rioli, who didn't have a touch in the first quarter, ended the match with two goals including a breakaway effort in the third term sparked by a clever tap on by Martin.

Jack Riewoldt kicked three majors, including a fourth-quarter effort that came from a pass by Martin on the boundary line that looked suspiciously like a throw.

Josh Caddy also had two for the Tigers, while Lachie Neale and Allen Christensen were the only multiple goalkickers for the Lions with two each.

A shellshocked Brisbane were made to pay for poor decision-making in defence and errant goalkicking in their first final since 2009.

The Lions held a 12-point lead at quarter-time but that had turned into an 11-point deficit after a goalless second term.

Daniel McStay, Cameron Rayner, Oscar McInerney and Jarrod Lyons were all guilty of missing gettable set shots and the Tigers made them pay with Rioli, Lynch, Martin and Shai Bolton all kicking goals.

The tide turned fully in the third quarter and, by the time Hugh McCluggage kicked the Lions' first goal since the opening term, they were down by 41 points.

The loss is Brisbane's second at the Gabba this year and their first in 13 finals at the ground.

It also extends Richmond's winning run over the Lions to 14 matches over 10 years.

Lions veteran Luke Hodge wound back the clock to his Hawthorn days in his first September foray since a 2016 semi-final against the Western Bulldogs for the Hawks.

The 35-year-old picked up 27 disposals and nine marks as well as winning two one-on-one contests with Martin to be the Lions' best on ground.

Neale couldn't match his 51 touches from the round-23 clash with the Tigers at the MCG, but ended with a game-high 37 disposals on top of his two majors.

Premiership favourites Richmond will have a week off before hosting a preliminary final at the MCG against the winner of next weekend's semi-final between Geelong and West Coast.

The Lions will be out to bounce back when they host GWS in a sudden-death semi-final at the Gabba.

Giants dismantle Bulldogs to stay alive in 2019

The increasingly heated rivalry between GWS and the Western Bulldogs has delivered another fiery contest, with the combative Giants dumping the Dogs out of the AFL finals with a 58-point win at Giants Stadium.

GWS, who suffered a 61-point drubbing by the Dogs at the same venue in round 22, turned the tables in emphatic fashion to book a semi-final berth with a 16.17 (113) to 8.7 (55) win on Saturday afternoon in front of 19,218 fans.

A disappointing day for the Dogs was made worse when rising star Aaron Naughton suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury late in the third term.

The big forward's left knee buckled under him after he landed awkwardly in a marking contest, ending his day and sparking fears he might have suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

With the Dogs left to lick their wounds, the Giants will take on the loser of the qualifying final between Brisbane and Richmond at the Gabba in a knockout semi-final.

The Bulldogs stormed into the finals, winning seven of nine games, but GWS were primed for a fight.

Marcus Bontempelli was often the target of a physical approach by the home side, master tagger Matt de Boer receiving plenty of help from his teammates as the Bulldogs' superstar was held to 13 possessions.

The Giants led by 10 points at half-time but broke the tense encounter open with a six-goals-to-two third quarter and finished right over the top of Luke Beveridge's men with 39 more inside-50 entries for the match.

There was plenty of class to go with the GWS grunt, with Lachie Whitfield (29 touches), Toby Greene (20 and three goals) and Jacob Hopper (30) leading the way.

Matt Suckling bounced through a long goal in the opening 30 seconds but the combative Giants quickly managed to get on top, Greene booting two goals as they edged to an 11-point lead at the first break.

The Bulldogs' back six held up bravely in the face of repeated attacks early in the second quarter, but Harry Himmelberg made it a 24-point game with his first goal.

It was starting to look like it wouldn't be the Dogs' day when Toby McLean pounced on a Zac Williams howler from a kick-in to spark a three-goal burst that slashed the margin to three points.

The match was delicately poised with GWS up by 10 points entering the second half.

Jake Kelly was quiet in the first half but he was a key factor as the Giants made their move, booting the last four goals of the quarter to lead by 35 points at three-quarter time.

It was a tall order for the Dogs to launch another comeback from there and it proved too big a task, their resistance crumbling as the Giants celebrated a resounding victory.

AFL ladder

AAP