Richmond will stick the course Glenn McFarlane
Herald Sun
March 10, 2011 DEVIATING from a course has never been Damien Hardwick's modus operandi.
It wasn't as a player. It sure as hell won't be as a coach.
As tempted as he has been to take short-cuts in his 17 months as coach of Richmond, he hasn't succumbed.
With three premiership models in the back of his mind - Essendon and Port Adelaide as a player, and Hawthorn as an assistant coach - Hardwick knows the long haul is the only way for the Tigers to end their 30-year flag drought.
"Probably the thing that I have learnt, particularly in my time under 'Clarko' (Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson) is that you can't skip a step in your development," Hardwick said.
"It is all about building a solid platform to launch your premiership assault and that's the one thing that is probably a bit frustrating at times. I sometimes look forward to skipping a step, as do the other coaches. But we know if we do that, it will bring about our downfall.
"There will be some games that we possibly could win if we tinkered with stuff, but once again it is a long-term focus we are aiming at, not the short term."
That philosophy extends to every aspect of the club's 2011 operations - including the redevelopment at Punt Rd, the Fighting Tiger Fund aimed at putting it on a level playing field with the power clubs, and expanding the membership.
From a playing perspective, it has been about getting the right group of players to be around the club long enough to bond and generate momentum.
"As a club we have turned over 24 or 26 players in two years," Hardwick said.
"That's a staggering amount. So our list at the moment is one of the most inexperienced in the AFL.
"We've got to get as many games into the young blokes who we think can take us to the next level."
That has been his plan all along, and could be expanded with three of last year's draftees - Reece Conca, Jake Batchelor and Brad Helbig - all in real contention for Round 1.
Hardwick's plan to give Jack Riewoldt more time near centre half-forward will allow Ty Vickery, drafted as a ruckman in 2008, to spend most of his time deeper in attack, as he has in the practice games. "We hope Ty can have a big year, and hopefully Ben Griffiths and Jayden Post can step up as well," Hardwick said.
"We are young and developing in that area, but hopefully you will see a very exciting forward line."
The coach is also looking at shoring up the defence.
"That was one area we were disappointed with last year, we couldn't really solidify the group," he said.
"Sometimes it takes years to gel, but we have been reasonably impressed (this pre-season) and hopefully that can keep going."
An obvious strength is midfield, bolstered further with pre-season additions.
"You look at our midfield, and if it consists of (Dustin) Martin, (Trent) Cotchin, (Daniel) Jackson, (Shaun) Grigg, (Shane) Edwards and (Nathan) Foley, then all of a sudden we have some real pace in there, which we probably haven't had for while," he said. "Over the next 12-24 months, they are only going to gain more experience, and hopefully turn into something special."
Foley's return from injury will be important, but Hardwick has cautioned fans to be patient given he has played only four of the club's last 30 games.
Hardwick hasn't set a figure on a pass mark. He expects the graph to keep going north from last year's six wins, but knows there will be occasional blips. "We have a relatively tough draw early," he said.
"(But) we have trained well, we have prepared well and we think we have a game style that is going to stand up to the rigours of finals footy. Now we just have to make it happen."
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