Look what we won! Richmond celebrates a second premiership in three years. Photo: AFL MEDIA

Richmond will bring back Alex Rance next year. Think about that for a second.

The team that went unbeaten through the second half of the season and won the premiership by keeping its opponent to the lowest grand final score since 1960 will be able to call upon one of the greatest defenders of all-time.

Not only that, but Damien Hardwick and his recruiting staff have unearthed another genuine match-winner in Marlion Pickett.

The South Fremantle product – once in jail, now celebrated as a premiership hero – averages 22 disposals, nine score involvements, one goal and four Norm Smith Medal votes a game in what can already be described as a remarkable AFL career.

And it is only just beginning.

The same goes for Sydney Stack, Jack Ross and five other players who debuted for Richmond this year.

So, where does the 2019 premiership leave the Tigers?

Admittedly, the term gets thrown around far too easily in an age where Australian sports commentators seem to love borrowing phrases from their American counterparts. But a genuine “dynasty” could well be in the making at Punt Road.

Richmond has indisputably been the best team for three years, and franked that form with its grand final demolition of Greater Western Sydney.

The second flag was the one the Tigers had to have, lest they be remembered as a team of supreme talent, toughness and system that let slip its chance at greatness.

A third would have Hardwick’s men firmly in the conversation as one of the most dominant sides of the modern era; up there with Leigh Matthews’ hat-trick winning Lions, Geelong’s all-powerful unit and Alastair Clarkson’s unsociable Hawks.

One major daily exclaimed on its front page that GWS had been “kneecapped” in the grand final. Richmond’s performance was that brutal.

The Tigers had winners all over the ground, from the irrepressible Dustin Martin deep in attack to Bachar Houli sweeping across half-back.

Martin claimed a second Norm Smith Medal – one of four players in history to do so – and Houli was second in the count, as he was two years earlier.

Shane Edwards, Josh Caddy, Kane Lambert, Jason Castagna and Jayden Short were among the Tigers who stood up to be counted in one of the great even team performances on the biggest stage.

David Astbury, Nick Vlastuin and Dylan Grimes joined Houli in repelling opposition raids as the Tigers’ defensive system held firm, and twin towers Jack Riewoldt and Tom Lynch were enormous up front.

But it was Richmond’s pressure around the ball that told the story.

It was evident from the start as ferocious tackling at the contest led the Tigers to eight of the first nine forward-50 entries, and the weight of numbers eventually began to tell on the scoreboard.

Pickett was superb after being thrown into the middle when Martin went forward.

He helped surge the ball forward when the game was in the balance and his blind turn to waltz past Lachie Whitfield will be replayed for many years to come.

Richmond players will spend the week celebrating a momentous premiership.

After a brief pause to reflect, the likes of Hardwick, Brendon Gale and Peggy O’Neal will already be turning their attention towards the next one.

This juggernaut won’t stop. Richmond already has more than 100,000 members – 103,358 to be exact.

It is a club and AFL record. Expect that figure to grow. Ditto for sponsorship and revenue.

And the addition of an AFLW team, which joins the expanded competition next year, will only help Richmond’s profile and reach.

GWS is at the other end of the spectrum.

The AFL’s newest club is also its smallest. It rode a wave of support during grand final week and milked the #bigbigsound movement on social media for all it was worth.

There is a long way to go before this club reaches its potential. But it has just that: potential.

It is a little club, but one with undeniable guts and heart, and has one of the biggest markets in the country from which to draw support.

It won’t be Richmond any time soon – but a flag isn’t beyond the realm of possibility.