Hardwick's post-match media conference / Beaten in all 3 phases of the game

[one-eyed]

Dimma's presser was just on:

* Bulldogs were pretty good tonight. Normally we win 1-2 phases of the game but we were beaten in all 3 phases tonight (offence, defence & contested). Dogs came in with a back to the walls mentality and we didn't match them.

* JC could've played down back on Naughton tonight and we still would've been beaten. Naughton was incredible tonight. The difference in the game.

* Not ideal (injures) but we back our players.

* We'll take stock and back the process next week.

* Astbury - ankle was severe. Thought he might have gotten up to play but it didn't happen.

* Rioli is battered and bruised. We needed him to keep playing and credit to him he did.

* Vlastuin's ankle is similar to what Dave's was. So Nick is a "probable" next week.

* Competition has evened out. Some sides have their full contingent while others are scrapping. Then 4 weeks later things have flipped around. Dogs were playing reasonable footy and just had little things not working. They fixed them tonight.

* Dusty mirrored the side tonight. Tried but just couldn't get free. Okay without being great.

* We just couldn't break out of their tackles and pressure whereas they did against ours.

* Tom Browne asked about the umps putting their whistles tonight? Dimma replied he's not the person to ask. The umps didn't affect the game. If they don't pay too many frees then that's fine; if they do then that's fine too. It's a difficult game to umpire.

* We won first possession at the centre bounce but the Dogs pressure turned what should have been centre clearances for us into centre clearances theirs. Frustrating. We gave up 5 goals from centre clearances tonight.

* Lynch is not down on confidence. We didn't deliver the ball well into our forward line and were too slow at least two times to kick it to him. It takes time for new players to jell into the side as we found with Prestia.

* Cotch is training but med team will be cautious. Minimum 2 weeks. Back 2-3 weeks.

[one-eyed]

EVEN Geez Geez WOULD HAVE STRUGGLED: DIMMA

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says he will back in any group that takes to the field as the Tigers’ injury curse begins to bite.

Richmond was comprehensively beaten by a Western Bulldogs side which had lost its previous four matches at Marvel Stadium, recording its lowest score since 2016 in a 47-point defeat.

The Tigers are missing Trent Cotchin, Alex Rance, Jack Riewoldt, David Astbury and Jayden Short from their best 22, but Hardwick denied it was breaking point.

“We’ll back our guys in,” Hardwick said.

“Is it ideal? No it’s not. But adversity comes at different stages. But we probably didn’t defend as well as we’d like. We’re probably trying to fill a few gaps along the way but that’s probably taking a little bit away from the Bulldogs who were outstanding tonight. They moved the ball really efficiently, we couldn’t get a hand on them and then when there was a contest I thought we were beaten in the contest as well.

“We’ll take stock, we’ll look at a few things, mend the process and get a better result, hopefully, next week.”

Asbury (ankle) is expected back against Fremantle next week but was sorely missed as Bulldogs’ young gun Aaron Naughton dominated with 14 marks and five goals.

“We could have had Geez Geez playing down there tonight and I reckon he would have struggled on him, to be fair. He was outstanding, some of those marks he was taking,” Hardwick said.

“He got a fair jump at it tonight. I thought we could have been a little bit better at taking some body contact, putting some body on him, but he was a very dominant player.”

Daniel Rioli played on after being crunched in a marking contest but Hardwick said he was a “bit bruised and battered” post-game, while there was also some concern over Nick Vlastuin who hurt his ankle.

Source: Herald-Sun

[one-eyed]

'A bit of luck would be nice': Dimma laments injury woes

AFL.com.au
Dinny Navaratnam
May 5, 2019

DOUBTS around the fitness of Richmond duo Daniel Rioli and Nick Vlastuin added more misery to the Tigers' Saturday night 47-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.

Rioli was limited to 66 per cent game time, the lowest on the ground, after hurting his left thigh in a bruising collision with Lachie Young in the opening term.

He's no certainty to face Fremantle next Sunday at Optus Stadium, with Richmond coach Damien Hardwick revealing the brilliant forward was in pain after seeing the match out.

"He's bruised and battered at the moment. We needed him to keep playing, and to his credit he put his hand up to play, but he's pretty sore," Hardwick said.

Vlastuin hurt an ankle in an injury similar to fellow defender David Astbury's in the Anzac Day Eve win over Melbourne.

"It's probably similar to Dave's last week. He did finish the game but it's one of those ones, he's put a lot of weight through it," Hardwick said.

"He's probable at this stage. We'll wait and see."

Astbury should be right to resume from his left ankle complaint.

"We presume so. It was one of those ankles that looks severe. It was severe and we thought he may have been a chance of getting up, but it's one of those ones, it probably dags a little bit if we play him (against the Dogs)," Hardwick said.

The Tigers endured a wretched night, looking flat despite having won three straight coming into the contest.

Spearhead Tom Lynch was kept goalless by Jackson Trengove and the premiership coach indicated the former Gold Coast co-captain's relationship with his new teammates needed developing.

"We probably didn't help him out with our delivery inside-50 tonight. He was probably open a couple of times, we just didn't quite hit the kick. There's two I can think of straight away where we should have actually directed the ball to Tom, but we were either too slow or didn't see him," Hardwick said.

"It does take a player moving from a club a little bit of time.

"We've seen it before with Dion (Prestia) and Josh (Caddy). It probably takes seven or eight weeks for them to get some momentum.

"I know he had some success early, but we expect that to jell a little bit better over time."

Asked whether having inconsistent personnel around him made that harder, the coach considered the proposition before revealing his frustration by banging on the table.

"I wouldn't mind some consistency. A bit of luck along the way would be nice," Hardwick said.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-05-04/a-bit-of-luck-would-be-nice-dimma-laments-injury-woes

[georgies31]

Gez some games Dimma gets outcoached way to easy.Poor selection at the changes table short 2 KB. We made the dogs talls look a million dollars and that's there weakest part everyone exposed.Cut him some slack with injuries,but we look lost with forwards entry's and the new rules.

[Diocletian]

Enough with the apologist shyte for the umpires - it's not earning any brownie points or getting us anywhere , time to say something and even cop a fine if need be...

....and the Naughton comments were weak & pathetic...JC might not have stopped him but RG might have given us a better chance....