Even though Carlton finished on top of the ladder, they had lost twice to Richmond during the regular season, and then were thrashed in the Second Semi Final replay.

[4] Carlton made eight positional changes to its team,[2] the most notable was that of captain-coach John Nicholls, who put himself in the forward pocket, and gave first ruck responsibilities to Peter "Percy" Jones.

Less than two minutes into the game, Trevor Keogh opened the scoring for Carlton before goals to Barry Richardson and Neil Balme put Richmond in front.

[3] Ruckman Peter "Percy" Jones played arguably his finest game for Carlton, while Alex Jesaulenko kicked seven goals and John Nicholls bagged six.

After being mocked by opponents and berated by critics following Carlton's thrashing in the Second Semi Final,[7] Nicholls knew that the only way to beat Richmond was to outscore them.

In another tactical move, Nicholls decided not to implement the planned game changes in the Preliminary final against St Kilda, thus keeping Richmond in the dark about his intentions.

[8] On the day Nicholls launched the plan by loading the forward line with his best players and instructing the team to play a fast, direct game that would not allow Richmond to settle.

[7] The unsuspecting Tigers fielded the same six defenders that had held Carlton to nine goals in the Second Semi Final replay two weeks earlier.

Several days after the match, chief football writer for The Age Percy Beames wrote that losing the Semi Final replay was the best thing that could have happened to Carlton.

In addition,] Carlton would have been lulled into the belief that its best chance of winning the premiership rested in retaining its players in the same positions they occupied throughout the season.