Hardwick’s grand arrival: Gold Coast tsunami swamps the TigersAndrew Stafford
The Age
March 10, 2024It was a sight to make Damien Hardwick’s eyes moist. There in the Suns’ small but resolute cheer squad, a fan holding up a corflute of Richmond superstar Dustin Martin, decked out in red and yellow. Who knows where it came from?
Unfortunately for coach Adem Yze, Hardwick’s replacement at Richmond, the real thing wasn’t available. No Tom Lynch, either. But it’s unlikely even Martin could have stopped the tsunami that swamped the Tigers in the first half at the newly anointed People First stadium on the Gold Coast.
Hardwick might have been reassured to have had Martin back by his side in the third quarter, as the Tigers slashed a 61-point lead at half-time back to 26 at the last change. Briefly, another miracle on grass threatened.
In the end, the Suns survived some nervous moments early in the last quarter to prevail by 39 points. They deserved the win, but Yze can take heart that his team rallied after being embarrassed early. Hardwick will just take the win. So should his players.
The game was a sellout, with 22,086 people the fourth-biggest crowd this ground has seen. They were drawn to the hype around Hardwick, the triple-premiership coach, up against the side he left behind for what he called a shiny new set of toys.
Who could blame him for getting excited? The talent at the Suns has never been the issue. Hardwick was lured to the Suns to give this list a system to work within, knowing he would also demand an uncompromising level of application.
That system is familiar to Tigers fans. It’s about territory at all costs. Suns ruckman Jarrod Witts made a statement of intent when he ripped the first bounce out of the air and hoofed it forward. The ball hardly left the Suns’ forward half for the next two quarters.
“You could see the style we were trying to look to play and implement, and I was really happy with how they went about that,” Hardwick said post-match. “The frustration as a coach is you always go to the third quarter, we just didn’t quite execute some things as well as we did.
“The game is always challenging when you’re eight or nine goals up at half-time [actually 10 goals] and all of a sudden you’re trying to get everyone on the same page and not think too far ahead. We probably lost our way.
“And we always knew the Tigers would come back, they’re a proud footy club. They’re missing some players tonight that would make an enormous difference to what that game looks like as well, so it would have been a lot closer than that, I think.”
The Tigers managed to climb over the Suns’ wall inside the first two minutes, for a goal to Shai Bolton. They didn’t register another until the last minute of the half – and still the Suns led by 61 points. In defence, Nick Vlaustin tried like King Canute to hold back the tide.
Sentiment aside, does Hardwick really need Dusty, especially given the hole he would put in the Suns’ salary cap? In Matt Rowell, he has an absolute beast – by half-time, he had 11 clearances, charging out of stoppages like an aggrieved rhinoceros. He finished with 20.
Up forward were Ben King and Jack Lukosius. Both have taken time to find their feet, and this is King’s second year since a knee reconstruction. Presented with a glut of opportunities created by a manic midfield, they kicked eight goals between them, seven in the first half.
But we’ve heard enough about Rowell, King, Noah Anderson, Lukosius and Touk Miller. Hardwick’s system has always relied on role players. Alex Sexton, once a goal-hungry forward who never enjoyed the chase better than the catch, has been refashioned into a half-back.
Yze comes to a team in transition. He still has some wonderful talent at his disposal – Daniel Rioli was one of the main reasons for the Tigers’ third-quarter surge, Bolton remains a lethal forward option, and Vlastuin and Liam Baker provide leadership.
But there are problems, too. Tim Taranto was last year’s Jack Dyer medallist, but his kicking remains a liability, and there was a long tail of players who failed to impact the contest. Most of the Tigers’ core of premiership players were themselves role-players under Hardwick.
They should have Martin back soon, and Lynch too. They won’t return the Tigers to the finals this year by themselves, but they’ll give them a lot more bite, buying Yze a bit more time to manage the transition – assuming, of course, he can keep them in yellow and black.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/hardwick-s-grand-arrival-gold-coast-tsunami-swamps-the-richmond-tigers-20240309-p5fb3l.html
