The job is only half-done for new All-Australian Dylan Grimes after an AFL season spent defying the prophets of doom.

Grimes and fellow Richmond defender Bachar Houli were handed their first All-Australian blazers on Wednesday night.

The Tigers are also into a qualifying final against Brisbane – a far cry from what many thought would happen.

When key defender Alex Rance went down with a season-ending knee reconstruction in round one, the consensus was that eventually, his absence would catch up with the Tigers.

Instead, Richmond’s defence quickly restructured and only three teams conceded fewer points this season.

While the All-Australian blazers were overdue for Grimes and Houli, Nick Vlastuin was also stiff not to make the initial 40-man squad.

David Astbury has also teamed superbly with Grimes as their tall defenders.

But now there is a premiership to win and Grimes said there is room to lift again.

“We lost an amazing player in round one, with Alex going down, and the back seven really had to step up,” Grimes said.

“We’ve had to become better leaders, better players and take more responsibility.

“You look at the position we’re in now, after an enormous (amount) of injuries and a lot of people discounting us – not thinking we could make the finals – I’m certainly proud of where the group is at.

“But having said that, I really feel like we have a lot of improvement to go.

Teammate Dustin Martin was a notable omission from the All-Australian team – it would have been his fourth in a row.

That probably reflected Martin’s quiet start to the season, by his standards, although his form in the last few weeks is back to the levels of his 2017 Brownlow Medal.