VIDEO: Hardwick and Edwards at the aftermatch media conference ...
http://www.afl.com.au/video/tabid/76/contentid/478666/hardwick+edwards+press+conference/default.aspxHardwick wonders: What if?By Luke Holmesby
afl.com.au
7:23 PM Sun 12 Aug, 2012AS HIS team returns to its best form, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick admits that the pain of lost opportunity still lingers.
The Tigers will miss playing finals football after three successive losses by less than a goal left them out of reach of the top eight.
But Richmond has been impressive in its past two games, defeating the Brisbane Lions by 48 points and the Bulldogs by 70.
The brief of an AFL coach is to focus solely on the week ahead but Hardwick admits he has pondered where his team would be placed if not for a few quirks of fate.
"The thing about AFL footy that you do quickly is you move on to your next task. In a quiet moment you look back and think what may have been," Hardwick said.
"It's the sliding doors theory, I think Geelong have won three close games and we've lost three close games. Our positions could be reversed.
"But that is something that as a footy club we've got to take on board and get better with. Good footy clubs win those close games. Experienced footy clubs win those close games so we'll certainly get better."
The Tigers shot out to an early lead but found themselves in an eerily familiar situation when the Bulldogs came back to within a goal of them in the third quarter. Richmond rallied and went on to win by 12 goals but Hardwick said he was disappointed the Tigers had a lapse.
"I'm probably at a stage now where I don't think sides should do that to us. We've got to be better than that," he said.
"We went through a brief period in the first two to three games of the year where those five to 10 minute spurts resulted in five goals and the same thing happened today. It is something we can't afford to happen on a regular basis and we have to improve in that area."
Even though a finals finish is out of the question, Hardwick said there was plenty to be gained before the season was out.
"Regardless of what happens from a finals perspective, we wanted to finish the season strongly," he said.
"We wanted to go 5-0. At the moment we're 2-0 and have an enormous challenge with Fremantle over there but it certainly is a challenge we are very much looking forward to."
https://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/144321/default.aspx
