Tigers to be active in pursuit of talent Jon Ralph
From: Herald Sun
September 15, 2011 RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has signalled his intention to trade and recruit aggressively, saying the Tigers cannot afford to simply expect success.
Hardwick dubbed Punt Rd "a place of elite character" in his speech to members at the club's Jack Dyer Award.
One of those is this year's first-time winner and future captain Trent Cotchin, with Hardwick saying his players have a huge thirst for improvement.
But he said the club could not wait for natural improvement to lift it into the finals, with the Tigers to again go hard at the trade table.
Recruits Bachar Houli and Shaun Grigg finished in the top 10 in the best-and-fairest count and now Hardwick wants to go to the well again.
Adelaide ruckman Ivan Maric is considered almost certain to be traded to the club, but Hardwick said he wanted football manager Craig Cameron and list manager Blair Hartley to keep pursuing hard.
"Our standards must increase on a yearly basis. There is a burning desire at this footy club to reach our goal but it won't just happen," he said.
"We must continue to add to our playing list, identify the right talent that will complement our existing playing group we already have, so Blair and Craig, the pressure is on. We need to get better and we need to get better quickly.
"To the players, we must come back and attack the pre-season like never before.
"We can't hope success will be granted. We must continue to prepare in a way that makes it inevitable."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/tigers-to-be-active-in-pursuit-of-talent/story-fn69a32t-1226137245194
