Hard nut Damien Hardwick ready to butt more headsShane Crawford | August 30, 2009
THE two things new Richmond coach Damien Hardwick cannot tolerate are undisciplined or soft individuals.
If you are a Tigers' player now, and you show any of those traits, then I would be afraid. Very afraid.
You might as well look for the nearest exit door now, or book your slot at Coburg next year.
Richmond's decision to appoint the dual premiership player from Essendon and Port Adelaide and premiership assistant coach from Hawthorn will bring about some dramatic changes in personnel and perception at Punt Rd.
Having watched Hardwick as a player, and worked alongside him as an assistant coach, he will make a real difference as soon as he walks into the club this week.
Watching the Tigers limp out of the season with a horrible 80-point loss to West Coast on Friday night, I have no doubt the changes will be swift and numerous.
Already Nathan Brown and Mark Coughlan have been told they have played their last games.
In football these days, you cannot cull most of the list, but Hardwick will have already worked his way through the keeps and the departures.
Matthew Richardson and Ben Cousins will stay because he values having a few experienced players around him at a club about to undergo a massive overhaul. But they will be the exceptions.
There will be a new emphasis on tackling (an area of concern for years), fitness, a peer group assessment based on total honesty, speed and better use of the ball.
Hardwick will initiate a team-first philosophy and, as he said at his press conference, it is all about winning the hard ball.
He certainly did as a player. He knew it was the best way for him to have a long and successful career. And he can not understand why some people don't buy into the same thoughts.
At Hawthorn he played a key role in Mark Williams's comeback from a knee injury, and for him to accept he was no longer the No. 1 forward.
Hardwick also made the likes of Williams and Buddy Franklin adopt team-first attitudes, which is sometimes hard for talented forwards.
There was a fair bit of Alastair Clarkson in his first press conference.
When "Clarko" took over at Hawthorn in late 2004, he talked about working to achieve the club's 10th premiership, which was achieved last year.
Hardwick almost went quote for quote when he spoke passionately about the challenge of achieving Richmond's 11th premiership.
There is no doubt he will be using the Hawthorn blueprint, including looking to revamp the whole fitness side of things, which was so important to the Hawks' success last year.
His dream would be to snare Hawks head fitness coach Andrew Russell, but that's unlikely to happen. If he did, that could end in blows.
Clarko has been supportive in assisting Hardwick, but that would change pretty quickly.
Former Essendon fitness coach John Quinn would be in the mix, given his relationship with Hardwick.
As far as his assistant coaching staff goes, I would not be surprised to see recently retired Port Adelaide ruckman Brendon Lade head to Punt Rd.
Lade and Hardwick are close, and Brendon was one of the smartest tap ruckmen in the game at one stage.
My old mate Ben Dixon would be a chance, too. I know Hardwick rates "Dicko" highly and he has got a very good football brain.
The Punt Rd changes will be coming thick and fast in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
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