North Melbourne set to beat Tigers to Damien HardwickGreg Denham | August 14, 2009
HAWTHORN assistant coach Damien Hardwick last night was the only common denominator on the senior coaching short lists of Richmond and North Melbourne.
He could be offered the Kangaroos position before the Tigers finalise their interview process.
Richmond stressed last night it would not hasten its comprehensive process because of speculation Hardwick could be lost to North.
The Tigers will offer a maximum three-year contract to the new coach, two years less than Terry Wallace was given when he was appointed at the end of 2004.
North Melbourne started its coach search after Richmond, primarily because it waited on Nathan Buckley, who eventually chose Collingwood, but the Kangaroos have put their foot on the accelerator in the past week, especially since Wednesday when John Longmire decided to remain in Sydney -- a development that caught the Roos off guard.
North Melbourne's short list is Essendon and Port Adelaide premiership player Hardwick, dual Brisbane premiership player and Collingwood assistant Brad Scott and current caretaker coach and North premiership player Darren Crocker.
Short-listed at Richmond are Hardwick, Essendon assistant Alan Richardson, Geelong assistant Ken Hinkley and caretaker coach Jade Rawlings.
The caretaker coaches at both clubs are believed to be trailing in the race to win senior positions next year.
Rawlings has a coaching win-loss ratio of 50 per cent, having steered the Tigers to three wins and a draw from his seven games as interim coach. Crocker broke the ice last weekend in his seventh match in charge with a win over Melbourne after drawing with Richmond in round 16.
It is seems unlikely that former Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley will seek the Richmond job, as he has yet to meet the Tigers to give a definite answer on whether he is keen to go through the initial interview process.
North Melbourne general manager of football operations Donald McDonald, a caretaker coach at Hawthorn in the second half of 2004, handled the preliminary interviews of prospective coaches before narrowing the field to four, which included former Roos premiership forward Longmire.
Hardwick was the first to present to the Kangaroos panel, which consisted of McDonald, chief executive Eugene Arocca and board members Trevor O'Hoy and Ron Joseph. North Melbourne, which will offer its new coach a term of at least three years, is known to have been disappointed at not being able to consider Longmire.
Richmond's initial coaching sub-committee completed its interviews last week, involving 11 candidates.
In the second stage of the Tigers process, a different panel has interviewed Hardwick and Richardson, with Hinkley and Rawlings to come.
Hardwick yesterday received an encouraging endorsement from Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson, but the Tigers have received equally high praise of Hinkley from current and former Geelong coaching staff.
Clarkson said Hardwick was ready to take the next step to the role of senior coach. "I'm not privy to what discussions are being held with the Kangaroos and Richmond, only that he is still involved with those processes," Clarkson said. "We've supported him all along. He has been in our system for five years and our view is that he is ready to coach senior football. It will be up to Richmond and the Kangaroos to determine whether that's the case as well."
Clarkson was an assistant coach at Port Adelaide in Hardwick's final year on the field, a premiership season at the Power, and recruited him as an assistant when he was appointed Hawthorn coach late in 2004.
"I've known him for a long, long period of time," Clarkson said. "We played footy together back in the days at North Melbourne."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25925629-2722,00.html
