Tigers' worst loss under Hardwick: BrownBy Australian Associated Press
Updated: 13:22 AEST, 1 June 2014Former Richmond forward Nathan Brown has labelled Saturday night's shoddy performance as the AFL club's worst loss under Damien Hardwick.
Brown, who ended his career as Hardwick took the reins at the end of the end of the 2009 season, didn't mince words while analysing the 50-point defeat to Essendon in the Dreamtime at the 'G fixture.
"In the five years Damien Hardwick has coached them, they've had 100-point losses here and there in the early days," he told the Sunday Footy Show.
"But this is the worst loss under his coaching tenure.
"They were lacklustre last night. They didn't put any pressure on the Bombers, he would be absolutely devastated with how his players performed.
"They had 27 less inside-50s, they should have been beaten by 100 points and it was bordering on embarrassing."
The Tigers' slump from finishing one win outside the top four in 2013 to a woeful 3-7 record approaching the halfway point of the 2014 season remains a mystery for many.
Brown, who played six seasons in the yellow and black, picked out speed in the middle as one of the big issues.
"The two preceding years their movement of the ball was so quick they caught sides off guard and were able to get Jack Riewoldt one on one," he said.
"All of a sudden they've got no run in the midfield. They've got plodders in there who aren't fast."
Sitting alongside Brown on Sunday, 1999 Brownlow medallist Shane Crawford lamented the Tigers' inability to "put up a fight .. and show some real spirit" against Essendon.
"I don't know what they say to their members and fans at the end of this season ... so many teams are leaping past them," Matthew Lloyd added.
The pressure is unlikely to go away over the next three weeks, with Richmond facing North Melbourne, Fremantle and Sydney.
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