Bus trip 'won't affect Tigers'By Jennifer Witham
7:50 PM Wed 15 Jun, 2011RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick says the Tigers' Monday road trip from Sydney to Melbourne won't affect his players' preparation for their Saturday night clash with the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.
The Tigers boarded a bus early on Monday and drove for 12 hours after flights on the east coast were plunged into chaos because of the ash cloud caused by the eruption of a volcano in Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain.
Hardwick said the trip, which was embraced by the players and recorded in a photo diary on Twitter by Jack Riewoldt, wasn't expected to hinder his players as they prepared to travel again.
"I reckon it was fine. Surprisingly, it was actually good fun for the coaches and the players," he told 3AW on Wednesday night.
"You know what it's like on a bus trip when you have 20-oddd blokes all having fun and the cards come out.
"The trip itself was actually quite good. For a 12-hour bus trip, it went pretty quick.
"We stopped every two to three hours and got out and saw a bit of the [highway]. It wasn't too bad.
"It doesn't go through many towns; it just keeps going but we stopped at a few - Gundagai - along the way, and we bought out the pillows and the Snuggies and it was all in good fun."
However, he jokingly threatened his players with more bus action should they drop their seventh game for the season on Saturday night.
"We told the blokes if we lose in Brisbane this week, we're getting back on the bus," he said.
"If we win games we get to fly. That's our motto."
The Tigers haven't won since their round-nine 16-point victory over Essendon on the Dreamtime at the 'G big stage, and lost on the weekend after their round 11 bye.
Hardwick said they would review their travelling procedure when they head to the Top End next year for their second Darwin game as part of the three-club deal struck with the Northern Territory in 2009.
The Tigers travelled to Darwin on the Friday before their Saturday night clash with the Power in round 10.
"We probably we would have gone up two nights before and trained," he said.
"I spoke to Matthew Primus after the game and he said they'd fallen into the trap we did previously. The conditions are so different, the ball was - and it might not have looked on the TV or it might have by the way we handled it - literally like soap.
"Our guys really struggled to control the ball. We were one of the better kicking sides in the AFL but I think we were No.17 for the round.
"It was really unlike us so we'll do a number of things differently in regards to one, how we travel, and two, how we approach the game."
Hardwick also joined the chorus of coaches opposing the advantage rule that says the player involved decides whether play goes on and not the umpire.
"I think it's a rule that is really confusing to players," he said.
"I know the obvious one is our players are programmed to stop on the whistle but the one that really is the hard one is the one from stoppages, especially from the centre bounce.
"The player grabs the ball and everyone stops because they're not sure who the free kick is for and they get that blatant run away.
"I think it needs to be addressed and the AFL in their wisdom will look at it and make a few alterations in regards to it."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/116341/default.aspx
