Hardwick's post-match media conference

[one-eyed]

Dimma's pressure:

* Relieved. Efforts been pretty good even in those losses. Tonight was good reward for our players and also our fans who have had it pretty tough. 85k again turned up tonight. Amazing effort.

* We got 54 HF turnovers but couldn't convert that onto the scoreboard. They had numbers back and it was bit like a soccer game. Had control of the ball but couldn't get the reward. Should have won more comfortably.

* 80% of our footy has been pleasing. The template is right. Our best footy will trouble most sides.

* Issues? Conversion inside 50. We have an inexperienced forward line. Apart from Jack, everyone else is very young and playing only a small amount of games - Elton, Castagna, Rioli, Bolton.

* Bulter back next week. Stengle is thereabouts.

* First 3 Essendon goals happened in a blink of an eye. Their stoppage scores were high early but we were able to arrest that after the first 15 minutes.

* Deliberate call? Umpire made a mistake. Got caught up with the 85k crowd with both sets of supporters screaming. It's a tough job. I'd rather be playing than umpiring.

* Ellis had his best game in a while. A step forward after what he would even admit was an ordinary year last year.

* Menadue also stood up at times.

* Rance and Astbury were good. Grimes got better as the game went along. Kept Fantasia quiet after the early part of the game.

* Our guys hung tough after the 3 narrow losses. Our best footy is ahead of us. Confidence is still up as the majority of what we are doing is working. They know they need to tidy up the rest for us to get better.

* Cotch lead from the front. Again good tonight.

* We ticked off what went wrong last week. 80% of the stuff we looked at was good. We gave up 4 kick-in goals against GWS when we had only given up 4 kick-in goals for the year.

* Dusty won the award tonight. To-ing and fro-ing in the box whether to play him in the middle or up forward as we needed a goal. Would like two of him.

* Connolly asked if Dimma felt the gods were against him again when the ball bounced up in the goalsquare or when Astbury overran the ball. Dimma said he felt confident with how we were playing although Balmey needed to give him a back rub a few times to settle him down  .

* Thursday and Friday games showed how close the season is. Important to get the 4 points and get over the Bombers who were also 5-4 going into night.

[one-eyed]

VIDEO: http://www.afl.com.au/video/2017-05-27/full-postmatch-tigers

---------------------------------

Tigers could do with another Dusty, says Hardwick

afl.com.au
28 May 2017

RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick was wondering what the hell he was going to say this week as luck seemed to be conspiring against the Tigers once again at various stages during the Dreamtime at the 'G game on Saturday night.

He had watched a contentious free kick and an unlucky bounce cost the Tigers two goals as the lead changed nine times in the first three quarters of a see-sawing encounter.

With three consecutive losses by less than a goal in the past three rounds, Hardwick knew there was not much margin for error.

"I must admit it is one of those things that goes through your head. I am throwing water bottles and smashing phones at one stage and Balmey's [football manager Neil Balme] rubbing my back there trying to calm me down," Hardwick said.

Despite the pressure the coach kept his nerve, willing the tide to turn.

"I was pretty confident our boys were playing pretty good footy and the luck of the gods might have been with us at some stage," Hardwick said.

His faith in his team was rewarded when the Tigers kicked two goals to zero in a tense final quarter to run out 15-point winners and stay ahead of the pack with six wins and four losses after 10 rounds.

"[The win] is important for their general confidence in what we are doing, because a lot of things we have been doing we have been doing really well but just haven't quite got the outcome we desire," Hardwick said.

This time the Tigers did get the outcome they wanted with Dustin Martin outstanding with 30 disposals and Trent Cotchin leading from the front with 15 contested possessions among his 30 disposals.

Hardwick said determining whether to leave Martin in the midfield or throw him forward was hotly debated in the third quarter as they needed a goal and knew he could provide them with one if the Tigers got the ball forward and he was playing inside 50.

"You sort of need two of him.”

Hardwick said despite the disappointment of the tight losses, the signs were positive with the Tigers in nine of the 10 games it had played.

"Our best footy is still ahead of us," Hardwick said.

"We play a good brand of footy that I think is going to trouble a lot of sides."

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-05-27/tigers-could-do-with-another-dusty-says-hardwick

[one-eyed]

Damien Hardwick says close win over Essendon ‘reward’ after three close losses

Matt Windley,
Herald Sun
28 May 2017

“RELIEVED” was the word used by Richmond coach Damien Hardwick to describe his emotions after his side finally closed out a close encounter at the MCG.

Following on from three weeks of heartbreak in which it lost by less than a kick, the Tigers last night defeated Essendon by 15 points in a game that hung in the balance until the dying minutes.

The scoreboard probably flattered the Bombers in a contest played in front of a huge crowd of 85,656, with the Tigers wasteful in front of goal in the 11.15 (81) to 10.6 (66) win.

But after being pipped by late goals against Fremantle and Greater Western Sydney in the last two weeks, Hardwick was just happy to get the win.

“Our effort, as I’ve said over the majority of the weeks that we played in those close losses, has been pretty good,” Hardwick said.

“I though tonight was good reward for our players but also our fans who have been through a tough stint as well.”

After the manner in which it lost the last three weeks Hardwick said he accepted that people wanted to put a “negative slant” on his team’s form.

“That’s how we are. But we try and look at the positives and 80 per cent of our footy has been fantastic this year,” he said.

“The template we’re playing with, the amount of time the ball has been in our forward 50.

“There’s some areas we can certainly improve, and unfortunately we’ve lost those close games and that’s all anyone speaks about, but we know our best is good enough.”

Asked what needed to improve most to take his side to the next level, Hardwick conceded a young Tigers forward line needed to convert more of its forward 50 forays in to goals.

“We had 52 forward half turnovers, which is an enormous number.

“We just couldn’t quite get the scoreboard reward we were after.

“It generally happens that they’ve got numbers back, they can’t get out but we couldn’t get a clear passage to score.

“A bit like a soccer game, when you have that you generally get caught up in the counter attack and can be a little bit frustrating at stages.

“But I thought overall we should have been more comfortable.”

Controversy blew up in the shadows of half time when Jayden Short was adjudged to have deliberately rushed a behind when under pressure from Josh Green while the pair tracked back a bouncing ball towards the goalsquare.

Hardwick said he felt the decision was wrong.

“Was he under pressure?

“I think they made a mistake, end of story. It’s tough, you’ve got 85,000 people yelling one way or another. I’d rather be playing than umpiring.”

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/damien-hardwick-says-close-win-over-essendon-reward-after-three-close-losses/news-story/324c7f870ec85475fbe6f0f5fd023e44

[one-eyed]

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick feared the worst before Tigers closed the deal

Rohan Connolly
The Age
28 May 2017

With the game in the balance and Richmond again not making the most of their opportunities, Damien Hardwick conceded that for the third week in a row, he turned his mind to the Tigers losing the seemingly unlosable.

"I must admit it is one of those things that goes through your head," the relieved coach said after his side this time closed the deal, defeating Essendon by 15 points on Saturday night to end a streak of three losses by a combined 10 points.

"I'm throwing water bottles and smashing phones at one stage and 'Balmey' [football manager Neil Balme] is rubbing my back there trying to calm me down. [But] I was pretty confident our boys were playing pretty good footy and the luck of the gods might have been with us at some stage."

Despite having nearly 30 more inside 50s than their opponent, Richmond only made the game safe when Toby Nankervis goaled with less than two minutes left on the clock. And Hardwick said it was a result that would do wonders for his team's belief.

"It's important for their general confidence in what we are doing, because a lot of things we have been doing we have been doing really well, but just haven't quite got the outcome we desire," he said. "I thought tonight was good reward for our players but also our fans who have been through a tough stint as well.

"We try to look at the positives and 80 per cent of our footy has been fantastic this year. There's some areas we can certainly improve, and unfortunately we've lost those close games and that's all anyone speaks about, but we know our best is good enough."

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/richmond-coach-damien-hardwick-feared-the-worst-before-tigers-closed-the-deal-20170527-gweoy1.html