Dimma's post-match media conference / 'Bounce of God' saves Tigers: Hardwick

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Dimma's post-match presser:

* Great reward for our players. Great for our fans as well after a tough trot.

* Game was similar to Hawthorn game last week with massive momentum changes and strings of goals in a row by both sides. Fortunate to get the win after our poor goalkicking tonight.

* Lloyd is a good shot normally. Missed a easier earlier.

* You make your own luck. Credit to the boys to get the win. Lids as captain was outstanding.

* Only 28 stoppages in first half. We didn't want stoppages given the Swans are elite in that area. So we tried to keep possession. Went sideways too much at stages but 7 goals in the last qtr is a great effort.

* Patches tonight that still need work. Skill errors in back half. Still a long way off the best footy we can play.

* Happy with Rance's effort are a couple weeks off despite Buddy kicking 5. Would have to check the tape to see how many of those goals were kicked on Alex.

* Rioli's two goals were special. Dimma said he had the privilege to see Cyril's development. Daniel's got the capabilities with hard work to become a good player.

* All our youngsters showed something tonight - Menadue, Short, Corey Ellis.

* Gained a bit of momentum with 3 quarters last week and the win tonight but we still have a long way to go.

* Jack has grown as a player every year. He's an on-field leader. We've all still got things to work on like Jack's working on off-field stuff and you Stevo [Ch 7's Mark Stevens] need to work on what you're wearing [Dimma and the other journos laugh]

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Vision of Hardwick's presser:

VIDEO: http://www.afl.com.au/video/2016-05-14/hardwick-fortunate-tigers-get-the-reward

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'Bounce of God' saves Tigers, says Hardwick

Peter Ryan 
AFL.com.au
May 14, 2016 11:46 PM

THE LAST-minute passage of play that led to an after-the-siren match-winning goal to Richmond was helped by "a bounce of God" according to relieved Tigers coach Damien Hardwick.

That flukey bounce put the ball into Jack Riewoldt's grateful hands in the middle of the ground as the final seconds ebbed away.

He got the ball to Ben Griffiths, who had a career-defining game, who then passed it to goalkicking specialist Sam Lloyd.

Lloyd went back and kicked the goal after the siren to give the Tigers a one-point win and keep their season alive.

"[We were] probably really fortunate Jack (Riewoldt) got a bounce of God there at one stage. I think it bounced directly sideways and went straight in his hands," Hardwick said.

"You make your own luck sometimes."

While Lloyd lined up for goal, Hardwick folded his arms in the coaches box, confident the 26-year-old could deliver under the sort of pressure that cause some to dream and others to wake in fright.

"We do practise those a fair bit. He's a good shot for goal," Hardwick said.

For once the coach’s confidence in his team was proven correct after a game that swung like a tent flap in a gale.

Not only did the Tigers miss five gettable set shots in the third quarter, but they leapt two goals clear twice, only for the Swans to hit back hard and regain the lead.

In the end they relied on an unlikely hero in Ben Griffiths to keep them in the game.

Griffiths kicked five goals, including three in the desperate last quarter, to turn the game Richmond's way.

Hardwick said he hoped the performance would be a breakout game for the 24-year-old playing his 51st match.

"It's what he does with this game that is really important. He can either rest on his laurels and that can be the best game he can ever play, or he can continue to work hard and be the player we all think he can," Hardwick said.

Apart from the usual suspects in Brett Deledio, Jack Riewoldt and Alex Rance, Hardwick praised a bunch of young players such as Corey Ellis, Daniel Rioli, Connor Menadue and Jayden Short, who he said are promising players for the club.

Rioli's two goals in the last quarter were electrifying and Hardwick acknowledged the 18-year-old added another dimension to the line-up.

"His two goals were pretty special and that is why we brought him to the football club," Hardwick said.

Richmond heads to Perth to play the winless Fremantle with Hardwick not daring to predict whether finals are still possible.

"What the players do with the win is up to them, really," Hardwick said.

"They can either be happy with it [and] not perform next week, but the expectation for us is we have started to gain a little bit of momentum in today's performance and three quarters of last week [against Hawthorn] but we have got a long way to go still."

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-05-14/bounce-of-god-saves-tigers-says-hardwick

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Hardwick: We must build on this

Herald-Sun
15th May 2016


RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has challenged his players to make another resurgence, believing the Tigers have found their spark.

The besieged club broke a six-match losing streak, sinking Sydney when Sam Lloyd’s 50m after-the-siren set shot clinched a dramatic encounter at the MCG.

Richmond has sensationally recovered from nightmare starts in each of the last two seasons to play finals. Hardwick said his side had a “long way to go”, but was hopeful it had again turned the corner.

“It’s great to have a win as a reward, (but) what the players do with the win is up to them. They can either be happy with it and not perform next week, but the expectation for us is we’ve started to gain a little bit of momentum from today’s performance and three quarters last week,” Hardwick said.

“It’s great reward for our players and obviously number one, it’s great for our fans. We’ve been through a tough trot, obviously, and for them to show up in force and see the boys fight until the last minute for that victory is a great reward. It was a great result.”

Richmond had the better of the match, denying the Swans the stoppages they relish with more careful offensive transition. The Tigers also dominated uncontested ball and had the upper hand in clearances and contested ball.

Yet the Tigers butchered the ball in front of goal, kicking 8.11 from set shots to Sydney’s 10.3 that threatened to bring them unstuck.

But with 20 seconds left and the Swans clinging to a five-point lead, the ball bounced right-angles to Jack Riewoldt in the middle of the ground and he found Ben Griffiths, who set up Lloyd for the winner.

“I think Jack got a bounce of God there at one stage,” Hardwick said.

“But you make your own luck sometimes. Credit where credit’s due, I thought our boys stood up, our captain tonight, Brett Deledio was outstanding and we got the result.”

Deledio had 34 possessions, but Griffiths (five goals) and Daniel Rioli (two last quarter goals) were just as influential.

Hardwick urged Griffiths, a player who has teased to date, to seize the moment.

“He’s been up and down. The kid’s got ability, there’s no doubt about that. He can do some things not may others can,” he said.

“It’s the consistency we’re looking for. It’s what he does with this game that’s really important. He can either rest on his laurels and that can be the best game he ever plays or he can continue to work hard and be the player we all think he can be.”

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/richmond-coach-damien-hardwick-says-tigers-must-build-on-this-momentum-after-win-over-sydney/news-story/be6a6d7de11696936c8cc3aed21ab32c

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Tigers coach Damien Hardwick says it's a great win for long-suffering fans

Larissa Nicholson
The Age
15th May 2016

Relief was written all over the face of Damien Hardwick, after his tenacious Tigers beat Sydney by a point on Saturday night.

In his words, with seconds on the clock a "bounce of God" went the way of Jack Riewoldt, whose long kick to Ben Griffiths set Sam Lloyd up to kick the vital goal after the siren.

But Hardwick said his team deserved the win, despite some poor kicking at goal that had helped put Sydney on top for much of the match.

"Credit where credit's due, I thought our boys stood up, our captain in Brett [Deledio] tonight was outstanding and we got the result, which was a fantastic effort," he said.

After six losses and just one win this year, Richmond needed a win or faced playing out the season with very little prospect of making the finals.

Reaching the top eight will still require a dramatic improvement, but with Fremantle and Essendon as their next opponents the Tigers now have a chance to claw their way back up the ladder.

Hardwick, the subject of much criticism in recent weeks, may be off the hook for a while in the eyes of commentators.

The coach shrugged off the suggestion the win would take the spotlight off his own performance.

"There's always pressure in our game," he said.

But in stark contrast to recent weeks, he smiled throughout much of the post-match press conference and joked with reporters about one journalist's dress sense.

The coach said he hoped the game would prove a turning point in the career of Griffiths, who got 20 disposals and kicked five goals, three in the last quarter.

Hardwick said wanted to see greater consistency from the 24-year-old.

"He's been up and down, the kid's got ability, there's no doubt about that," he said.

"He can either rest on his laurels and that can be the best game he can ever play, or he can continue to work hard and be the player we all think he can be."

The relatively small crowd of 36,014 suggested that some Richmond fans may have lacked faith in their team's ability to beat the Swans.

But when Lloyd's goal sailed through to seal the match, the roar was that of a much larger crowd.

"We've been through a tough trot obviously, so for them to show up in force and see the boys fight to that last minute to get the victory is a great result," Hardwick said.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/richmond-v-sydney-tigers-coach-damien-hardwick-says-its-a-great-win-for-longsuffering-fans-20160514-govd4r.html