Click here to watch CTV's The Weekend That Was with Alan Richardson

Development manager Alan Richardson says the players deserve plenty of credit for the way they outplayed Sydney and for cementing a finals berth.

Speaking on CTV’s weekly match review show The Weekend That Was at the Lexus Centre on Monday, Richardson was particularly proud of the mix of tackling pressure and also contested ball winning against quality, finals-hardened opposition.

“The reality is that we had more of the footy, I think it was 18 or 19 more possessions than the Swans, but also out-tackled them, and they’re a fantastic set of numbers,” Richardson said.

“Tackling numbers are sometimes a little bit confusing, a bit misleading. If you don’t have the footy you get more opportunities to tackle, and you would hope the team is going to have high numbers then.”

“We won the hard-ball gets, we won the clearances against a really physical team that like to take you on from your toes one-on-one. We tackled really well, not only did we get high numbers, but our intent, we really hurt the Swans with our tackling, was significant.

“Not only did we put on direct pressure with our tackling, but our perceived pressure that followed on from that, even when Sydney players were in time and space at times, was outstanding.”

The ability of young players, like Tyson Goldsack and Sean Rusling, who Richardson talked about, was heartening given Sydney’s recent history.

“There’s obviously another week to go against the Crows, but Sydney have been fantastic the last couple of years,” Richardson added.

“The football they play is very conducive to winning finals games. One-on-one they’re very tough, and we thought, not only did we equal them in those parts of the game, but we were a bit better, so it was a very pleasing result.”

The importance of the final match of the season against the Crows this Friday night at Telstra Dome is certainly not being overlooked, with Collingwood still a chance to snare a top-four spot.

“We want to get to the finals on as good a terms as possible. We really want to play I Melbourne. In many ways, it’s still in our control.

“Obviously, some results from other teams are going to have some sort of influence on that, but the fact that we’re no definitely going to play, and have the opportunity to advance that somewhat, with a win over Adelaide this week, is a fantastic situation, and full credit to the boys for getting themselves in that position.”