Not for the Richmond players, staff and the Tiger army of course - they will rightly be flying all this week and are entitled to yell "yellow and black!" to anyone who says hello to them.

But here at The Border Mail we have been getting behind Culcairn prodigy Jeremy Finlayson, who has experienced a breakout year at GWS.

If the Giants had managed an underdog victory on Saturday, much of the credit for their success would have gone to him.

But sadly, for Finlayson, it was not to be.

The young forward finished with just the one kick for the match, on a day he may rather forget. It was disappointing for his Giants fans and Culcairn connections.

But one of the marks of a good football player is how they respond the adversary - many grand final losing teams have used the pain of that loss to spur them on to something better the next year.

Finlayson has been open about finding the pressure of AFL football overwhelming for his mental health and he even took time last year to return to Culcairn for a break - he came back better than ever.

Let's hope he can spend some time at home over summer so he can fire again.

The second disappointing aspect of Saturday was the ease of which Richmond put GWS away.

When we look back at 2019, we may remember a period of Richmond success, the stunning debut of Tiger Marlion Pickett or when Dustin Martin became one of the greats of the AFL. What we won't remember are details of the actual grand final.

After an unpredictable and entertaining year of footy, the grand final match itself was an absolute flop.

There were no goals in the first 10 minutes and that period was one of the most entertaining - at least it was tense.

When the Richmond goals started adding up, many neutral footy fans were probably more interested in their barbecue or drinks, or thinking ahead to the cricket season.

But for the Tiger army, it was sure to be bliss. Enjoy the year of the yellow and black.