Despite another first-round flogging, Richmond is on track Shane Crawford
Sunday Herald Sun
March 28, 2010 NEW Richmond coach Damien Hardwick could have taken the easy option on Thursday night.
He didn't, and Tiger fans should be thankful.
Yes, the Tigers were flogged by 56 points. Yes, they made plenty of mistakes. And, yes, they clearly have a long way to go over the next three to five years.
But the one thing that long-suffering yellow and black fans should be grateful for was that the new coach did not try to take short-cuts in his first game.
When confronted by an early Carlton onslaught, you could hardly have blamed the coach for trying to shut the game down to minimise the damage on the scoreboard.
Instead, he backed his youngsters, tried to get them to commit to a game plan, and got them to take it on for most of the night.
OK, it didn't work, but it will - eventually.
It is going to take a lot of time and a lot of patience, but I believe Hardwick's plan just might just work, long-term.
It might not feel that way for supporters, who saw another first-up thrashing, but Thursday night was the first tentative steps on what hopefully will be a Richmond revival.
The Richmond of 2010 is not about wins or losses. It is about developing the list as fast as possible, and giving the kids a crash course on the game plan the coach wants them to follow with a passion.
The players made plenty of mistakes, and still created more than a few turnovers, but they had a crack. At times you could almost see them stop in their tracks, and do the complete opposite thing to what they were originally doing.
That was a sign they were trying hard to implement the Hardwick game plan.
It won't come easy. Just think how long it took St Kilda and Hawthorn to adapt and put game plans into practice under their coaches, Ross Lyon and Alastair Clarkson.
And the Saints, in particular, had a much more advanced list when Lyon took over in 2007 than the Tigers do now.
Richmond has one of the most inexperienced lists in the AFL, evidenced by the fact that they had four debutants playing on Thursday night.
The four first-gamers - Dustin Martin, Ben Nason, Relton Roberts and Mitch Farmer - were all raw, but they showed enough to suggest they can play roles in the coming years.
Martin was more impressive as the game went on. Nason made plenty of mistakes, but at least he took the game on at times.
Ideally, you would try to spread those four debut games over several weeks, but the coach was obviously keen to make a statement - leaving seasoned players out.
The difference between this year's Round 1 loss and last year's embarrassing start was almost six goals on the scoreboard. Another difference was that at least there appeared to be a better game plan on offer this time around - even though many of the young Tigers were unable to put it in to practice.
Hardwick is only scratching the surface as far as his game plan goes, but he will stick to it, and the players will derive the benefits.
Richmond had a lot of older players in last year's first-round flogging. This time it was a much younger side, and that's a good thing going forward.
It seems almost cruel to ask Richmond supporters to remain patient. That's been the message for far too long at Punt Rd.
But this time, with a coach committed to a long-term plan, it might just be rewarded - even if it doesn't really appear that way.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/despite-another-first-round-flogging-richmond-is-on-track/story-e6frf9ox-1225846354494
