Hardwick has Tigers believing in finals dreamGreg Denham
The Australian
5 June 2017Richmond equalled their best start to a season in 12 years when they won for the seventh time in 11 rounds against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
Now, coach Damien Hardwick believes the Tigers’ solid start with a new-look team can equate to something he’s been unable to achieve in his seven full years at Punt Road, and that’s win a final.
Under Hardwick, Richmond’s previous best start to a season was in 2013 when they also enjoyed a seven-win/four-loss beginning — which turned into a nine-win/four-loss start — before finishing the home-and-away season fifth with 15 wins. However, they were eliminated in the first week of the finals by Carlton, which became a recurring theme in the elimination finals of 2014 and 2015.
A confident Hardwick hinted Richmond could produce something special in the second half of the season after their disappointing 2016 when they won just eight games.
A classy midfield headed by Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin, another key-defender (David Astbury) to assist Alex Rance, and some classy small forwards — Daniel Rioli, Shai Bolton, Dan Butler and Jason Castagna — around Jack Riewoldt have helped round out an accomplished group, which has been further strengthened by the recruitment of on-ball players Dion Prestia from the Suns and Josh Caddy from Geelong.
“We’ve got a nice complement and we do play some exciting footy,” Hardwick said after the Tigers ran away from North after halftime. “We have a nice complement of inside players — Martin, Cotchin, Prestia, Caddy, these types — and some really classy outside young players that are starting to (blossom).
“We probably haven’t had the leg speed, but we brought some players in (and) I thought Connor Menadue grew again as well … it’s exciting for us.”
Tough midfielder Prestia played his best game for the Tigers with 35 possessions after overcoming knee, calf and hamstring problems. “It does take some time for the players to come from other clubs to fit into your system and it’s taken a bit longer than we both would have liked,” Hardwick said.
“But in fairness to Dion, he’s only started training twice a week … so we’re really positive he’s going to have a huge impact for us in the second part of the year.”
Astbury allowed dangerous North Melbourne forward Jarrad Waite one goal, while gaining 20 disposals himself. His consistent form this season has been a bonus for Rance, who curbed North Melbourne’s Ben Brown, restricting him to just one goal as well. North, who had beaten the Tigers in seven of their previous eight clashes, now sit three wins behind them and face an uphill battle to play finals for a fourth straight year.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/hardwick-has-tigers-believing-in-finals-dream/news-story/fd8632ff3c3f00a5928a2d4f94cc6c29
