Richmond’s coach ‘lacked purpose’ after AFL shutdown. So he created ‘Dimma’s daily routine’April 15, 2020
Ben Waterworth
FOX SPORTSFollowing the Tigers’ comprehensive Round 1 victory over Carlton, Hardwick’s Tigers and the 17 other clubs were informed the 2020 AFL season had been suspended until at least May 31 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Asked on Fox Footy Live how he’d personally dealt with the isolation, Hardwick said: “I’m not going to lie … when you do build yourself up for the season – and as a senior coach you do step back and allow the assistants to do a lot of work in the off-season then you start to ramp up when the pre-season games and Round 1 approaches and then you’re in it – the routine becomes really rigid. You know exactly what you’re going to do at every single time. And then after Round 1 that’s ripped away again.
“I did. I did struggle for about a week. I felt I lacked purpose, I couldn’t figure out what I was going to do.
“But now I’m back. I’ve got a really structured routine.”
A more jovial Hardwick then revealed he’d created ‘Dimma’s Daily Routine’ to give him structure and motivation.
Hardwick held up a homemade document entitled ‘Dimma Day’, with the camera picking up half of the Richmond coach’s diary.
6am-7am: Exercise — Weights
7am-9am: Exercise — Family & Dogs
9am-10am: Personal
10am-12pm: Phone Calls
12pm-1pm: Lunch
1pm-3pm: Self-Education/Return To Play/Phone Calls“It’s just something I really value is structure and routine,” he said.
“It’s good fun. It’s taken me a little bit of time, actually, but it’s started to work out really well.”
Despite the unusual and tough times, Hardwick said there were positives to emerge, such as spending more time with his family.
“I’m very fortunate, it is great. I must admit in this terrible time that we have it is great to have your kids at home – a 23-year-old, a 20 and a 17-year-old,” he said.
“Last night we were at our very best. We were playing ‘Family Feud’ and, as you can imagine, the word ‘feud’ came out in the end and it was a pretty volatile game.
“But one thing you can look at is family certainly becomes very important and you do start to have a little bit of gratitude in your life about the important things.
“Family is certainly one of those, your friends are certainly a part of that. But it’s also what you have when it’s taken away. Footy is such a big part of my life and a big part of Richmond’s life and our fans and supporters – and all of a sudden when it’s not there, you realise how much you appreciate what you have.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-damien-hardwick-struggled-with-shutdown-coronavirus-diary-daily-routine/news-story/d572143fd6b9a0096c23cca1f3e2c1a1
